Naruto: Four Gates To Chaos
by Chuckling-Ghost
Summary: When Danzo uses an exorcism genjutsu on the infant prodigy Sasuke Uchiha to banish the ghost controlling his body, the ghost of Sasuke's past life is relegated to the position of split personality as the real Sasuke is finally allowed into his own body. Nearly Road To Ninja crazy AU, lots of surprises, intrigue & awesomeness galore. Adapted characters from other animes will appear.
1. Prologue: Sasuke?

**AN: This story will eventually feature adapted characters from _Soul Eater, Kill La Kill, One Piece and Overlord_ , as well as an eventual full fledged crossover with _Fullmetal Alchemist Brotherhood_. Please do not get discouraged simply because they are not immediately present, I promise at least 5 characters from Soul Eater, 4 from Kill La Kill, 3 from Overlord and 2 from One Piece by the end of Chapter 13 which is the first time they really have an opportunity to show up. I appreciate your patience, I know you're excited, thank you for bearing with me.**

 **=Prologue-Me Myself and Most Decidedly Not=**

I don't have the faintest bloody clue how this happened. I woke up feeling very squished, warm and what I can only describe as slimy. My eyes popped open and immediately darted around, I saw a lot of things that didn't make sense, and my vision was very blurry. There was a lot of racket and what felt like immense hands had me. A moment later I was laid against something, no some _one_ very big warm and soft. I blinked and looked up into very tired looking deep blue eyes. I feel quite certain I was making a face of confusion most unbecoming for an infant because she laughed, "Sasuke, don't make a face like that!"

My expression changed at that, _What did she just call me?!_ I tried to look around and she said, "Fugaku! Itachi! Come meet Sasuke!" I very narrowly managed to not yowl as one of anime's baddest smiled down at me, "Hello Sasuke." I can't remember exactly what happened next but I think I might possibly have peed on him in shock.

I won't go into a lot of detail about exactly what happened over the next little bit, but my first word was "Son". Words two through five were, "of a b****! OW!" They came out very loud, very fast and I earned several very interesting looks with them. Then Fugaku, Dad I supposed, laughed and said he couldn't blame me. He would've been swearing too if anyone had done that to him. I couldn't drop kick the doctor, my infant body wasn't strong or coordinated enough for that yet, but I very much wanted to. It didn't hurt long, but that is one place I never want a pair of scissors near again.

When they handed me back to Mikoto, Mom I supposed, she asked me how I knew such a dirty word. I laughed innocently and tried to shrug. I managed to pass myself off as a baby after that by only mimicking what I heard, usually in fragments, and playing dumb and innocent quite actively. An ingenious baby for sure, but nobody ever guessed the truth. The truth of course was so wild that I don't think anyone could've ever guessed it unless they were from my world reading this record as self insert fan fiction. Even if they could have guessed, who would've ever believed them?

After all, it's not every day a grown man gets reincarnated in the newborn body of an anime character with all his memories and personality intact!

As I continued to play innocent genius kid, one thought played around in my head, _I'm Sasuke Uchiha?! Well...F***._ Have you guessed yet that I wasn't exactly a happy baby?

==That Night==

I was lying awake in my cradle, tickling myself with my chakra. It wasn't hard, I don't know why everyone makes such a big deal about it. It's right there, you're constantly aware of it. I found it very quickly, and like I said, started tickling myself with it. The tickling was an accident. You see my first attempt to manipulate my chakra revealed it to be springy, and the recoil of said springiness to send ripples through the whole system, which tickled.

Then I had an idea. I grinned and wondered if it could really be that simple. A part of me told me there was no way in hell, but another part of me pointed out that I had been able to manipulate it just by thinking about what I wanted it to do. I willed it out around my hand, and I could feel it stretch out around my hand, forming a nice little ball. Then I clenched my pudgy little fist and willed it to get hot. Hotter, _hotter, HOTTER!_

Soon it combusted and as the flash of fire petered out with my laughter, I froze. Where the hell did he come from? "What are you?" Itachi asked, his Sharingan active and lending him an ultra sinister air in the dark, even my blurry vision able to see it. "Tachi!" I said in my best excited innocent voice, which was pretty good actually. Itachi didn't say anything for a moment, then he picked me up and looked at me, his Sharingan boring into my eyes, "Don't play dumb, we both know that no infant could do that."

I smiled at him, getting a little worried, "Tachi?" He was getting angry now, "Cut it out! What are you?!" I did what any self respecting toddler would. I started crying rather loudly. If he activated his Tsukuyomi I was toast. "Sneaky little," Itachi hissed and then Fugaku burst in, his Sharingan active too, "ITACHI! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" "Father I-" Itachi didn't get any further because with one particularly horrid yowl I blasted fire in his face. He dropped me immediately, but Fugaku dove and caught me a few inches from the floor.

He hugged me close and bellowed at Itachi for what was probably quite a while, Itachi trying to argue that he hadn't done anything and that there was something wrong with me, that there was no way I should be able to use my chakra like that. I just trembled and curled up into a weepy little ball. My infant body was still in the period where it felt perfectly natural to just cry. Through narrow watery eyes I saw Itachi's glowing red eyes leave, and then Fugaku was rocking me back and forth trying to calm me down.

Itachi never questioned me again, but I could always see it in his eyes whenever I did something wildly advanced, he never did fully trust me after that.

==A Few Weeks Later==

I made leaps and bounds in my chakra manipulation abilities at night. By the time I had been there for a month I had all but managed to form up a Rasengan. I don't know how powerful it was, or if I was doing it right, and it was really hard to keep the rotation speed up, but I could damn sure make something that looked like one! This had some very interesting results because about a week after I got it just almost right (I hit a road block on the rotation speed thing), I got two very surprising visitors: Obito and Rin.

I examined them both very closely. Rin was extremely pretty, and very sweet. I could see why Obito liked her. Her whole face lit up when she smiled, and she smiled a lot. Obito I gave a poke in the face, "Bito winkwy." Obito smiled, "Yeah, Bito winkly." "Why?" "Bito got smushed." I poked him happily, "Mussy! Mussy Bito!" He smiled, "Yes, Bito mushy." He looked up, "Ah Uncle Fugaku, how old did you say Sasuke is again?" "One month!" Fugaku laughed proudly, "One month and he's already talking and breathing fire! He hasn't activated his Sharingan yet, but at the rate he's been going I don't think it'll be long!" "Breathing fire?!" Obito and Rin asked in unison.

I promptly fake sneezed out a half meter long plume of fire. Obito jerked away in surprise, but he did better than Itachi had and didn't drop me. Of course, I didn't give him a face full either. "Do you think he'd like to meet the Hokage?" Obito asked. Fugaku sounded surprised but thought it was a good idea.

Next day I found myself sitting on the Hokage's desk with a pair of blue eyes peering into mine from under a mop of bright blonde hair, "Hello Sasuke." "Hewo," I replied curiously before reaching out and patting his head, "Yewo." Then I laughed at my rhyme, "Hewo yewo!" "Yes, that's right," Then he sat back with a smile and started talking to Fugaku. I looked around and after a moment was crawling around. I had managed to accelerate my muscular development by ramping up the speed of my chakra flow at night, so I was able to move around about like a one year old even though I still looked like an infant.

After a moment I found a piece of paper with some handwritten notes and a diagram of the Rasengan. "Sengan," I said out loud as I looked at it. Minato sounded like he was smiling, "That's right Sasuke! Rasengan!" Then there was a Rasengan next to me. I looked at him and then at his Rasengan, then back at the paper. Then I cupped my hands and a moment later I showed him a "Sengan." I wish I'd had a camera for his expression.

A few weeks later I needed a camera for my expression when Mikoto and Kushina introduced me to Naruko. _Wait what?_ Yep, a girl. There went absolutely every plan I could possibly have had based on canon or even any fan fiction I had ever read.


	2. Chapter 1: The Academy

**=Chapter 1-The Academy=**

==Eight Years Later==

Ruko's finger was on my nose, "I challenge you!" she declared. First day at the Academy and that's the first words out of her mouth. No "Hi Sasuke," no "Hello," just a challenge right out of the gate. Of course my reply was, "Okay," sweep and catch the hand, yank off balance, hand to shoulder, foot out to trip and slam with arm extended and ready to break over backwards or dislocate at the shoulder if absolutely necessary, all in about a fifth the time it takes to read that. "Good morning Naruko," I said with a polite smile, "How are things with you?" She started shaking. I wasn't sure if she was crying, but I let go and pulled her back to her feet, "You alright Ruko?"

"JERK!" Ruko yelled as she slapped me so hard I almost staggered a little. Then she ran off. I looked up at Mom, "I don't get it, I thought she wanted to fight?" Mom patted me on the shoulder, "Perhaps she didn't realize how strong you are? Go a little easier on her if she challenges you again." "Okay," I replied, my innocent act was so ingrained now that it was reflex, but really I should've known to hold back. I was a black belt even before I became Sasuke, and even though I'd had three years of rust on me at the time, the years of constant training with Itachi and Dad had brought me back up to past what I had been in my prime. They were both quick as snakes, agile as monkeys and strong as bulls. I would've been disappointed with anything less from shinobi, but that didn't make fighting them any easier.

They normally wouldn't have started training me to fight until I started at the Academy, but my rapid muscular and intellectual development had encouraged them to start rather early. So I'd be lying if I said my combat analysis of everyone my eyes fell upon was entirely the result of my past life's training, a lot of it was Uchiha too. I almost felt bad about it, analyzing little kids like they would be viable opponents, but then I reminded myself that I was supposed to be a little kid too, and I'd probably have to fight these kids a lot over the coming years.

Then there was the building itself, also analyzed quickly. What really caught my attention though was that none of the other kids were looking at anything the way I was. No looking around at their surroundings, no analysis, just running to their friends and blabbering away happily, "They don't see much do they?" I asked Mom. She blinked and then looked around before looking back at me, "Sasuke you can't expect everyone to see as you do. Besides it's the first day of school, they're excited." I _hmmm_ ed, "Ok, I guess they'll learn."

Then Iruka-sensei was calling the class in and I waved bye to Mom as I ran to catch up to the others.

We weren't sat in any particular order, so I immediately gravitated to the back corner. I got there and found a little boy with black hair in a light gray jacket already there with his feet on the table and a pudgy kid in a white t-shirt next to him. Choji and Shikamaru? Pudgy nudged Jacket as he noticed me, "Hey Shikamaru, there's a kid." Shikamaru looked over and I patted myself on the back for picking them out so easily, "I see that Choji." "Sasuke Uchiha," I introduced myself, "mind if I sit here?" "No prob," Shikamaru replied.

I sat down and looked over at Choji, "So you're Choji huh?" "Yeah and this is Shikamaru." "It's nice to meet you both." Then another voice complained from next to me, "Shikamaru, Choji! You said you'd save me a seat!" Shikamaru sat up and pointed, "We did," he pointed to the empty row in front of us, "We even saved Sakura one." I turned and saw two girls, one blonde and the other with vividly pink hair, Sakura and Ino?

Then Kiba was protesting that Shikamaru had promised to save him a seat too and Shikamaru pointed him to the seat next to Sakura. Kiba sat down and I felt something snuffling my leg, I looked down and yep, there's Akamaru. "Hello," I told him, "Why are you sniffing me?"

Kiba leaned over and looked at Akamaru who whined. Kiba blinked, "He can't be a teacher he's just a kid!" I looked down at Akamaru, "I smell like an adult?" Akamaru whined an affirmative and I scratched his ears, "That's a good nose." "So you are an adult?!" Kiba asked in surprise, prompting everyone who heard him to turn around and look at me. "Only up here," I replied with a smile as I pointed to my head. They looked like they didn't understand, but then Iruka called the class to order and they forgot about it.

==A Few Hours Later==

After going around and introducing ourselves, we had a discussion about class rules and procedures, blahblahblah and yakketyyak if you've ever been in a classroom for the first day you've heard that claptrap. After that we went outside to the training yard for primary physical evaluation. There was another class out there and we wound up mixing with them as we were sent from station to station.

If I hadn't been in a growth accelerated Uchiha body for eight years, I would've flunked everything. Instead I passed with flying colors. The bamboo bundles we were supposed to pull apart came apart easily in my hands, the hanging from a rope was easy too. No monkey bars, just straight hanging. My chakra abilities were really coming in useful here because increasing my chakra flow heightened my durability quite considerably. Eventually Ino was the only one besides me left hanging, and she dropped before I did.

When we got over to the sparring circles I got a nasty surprise. The other class was there too, and both had odd numbers. I was odd one out and got put in the ring with a kid from the other class. It took me a second, but there's no mistaking a Byakugan. Neji Hyuga. _S***!_

We set up and I started analyzing his stance immediately, one hand cocked back like he was going to throw a full body punch, the other down in front of him, was that an hourglass stance? _Must be Gentle Fist_ , the instructor called for us to begin and he sprang, the expression on his face quite angry. I dodged his flat handed strike easily with a spring to the left and stepped back as he came up for a swipe, back again as he brought his foot around for a kick, and duck as he tries to spin in that head height back kick, _now._ I surged upwards and sent him flying almost completely out of the very small ring as my crossed arms connected with his extended leg.

Then I noticed the dents in my chakra network as he picked himself up, "Gentle Fist huh?" He grinned and I saw that his Byakugan was active. "Well then," I replied, "I guess you won't mind if I break out _my_ special trick." I used a blast of chakra to propel me forward. The fist I slammed into his midriff was on fire, and thanks to the speed boost, hard enough that he visibly crumpled around the punch in seemingly slow motion before I cut loose a concussive blast of fire and chakra around my fist that shot him out of the ring and about three meters backwards. "You've got Gentle Fist, I've got _Fire_ Fist," I told him with a grin as I extinguished the flames.

Even considering that I had approximately twelve years of experience to his probably six at the very absolute most, I'm still shocked he went down that easily. I wasn't the only one either. The instructor wasn't delighted that we had used augmented taijutsu, but he had to admit we had done it well.

==Three Years Later==

I casually spun my kusarigama, the entire Ino-shika-cho trio at once huh? Well Kiba was guarding our flag, Shino was retrieving their flag as planned, and this meant that the entire enemy squad was right where I could see them. _And take them all out in one go,_ I grinned.

I saw Shikamaru make a hand sign and flicked the weight at the end of the chain at him like a whip. Choji of course got in the way, but that was better because it let me spring forward and launch them both, and there comes Ino, right on cue. Spin with the chain and gotcha. The chain wrapped around her and with a good yank she flew right into my left knife hand strike, face first no less. I dropped to a knee and slashed the blade through her throat. I turned and threw shuriken into Shikamaru and Choji, nailing them both right between the eyes. "Nothing personal guys," I said cheerfully as red dripped from their wounds, "but I win this one."

The chain was a rope, the weight was a small one wrapped in a sponge full of red paint, and the blade was an L-shaped paint brush. The shuriken were paint balls, and the dripping red was paint. They weren't particularly pleased, but just then I had a bigger worry...

"Hey tough guy, how about a real challenge?" I sighed, of course Ruko wanted to go at it, _again_. I turned and easily picked her out in the tree branches, she wasn't trying to hide. I Body Flickered and was next to her in an instant. She had just enough time to look surprised before I slammed her into the tree trunk. I didn't hold back, I knew she'd never forgive me if I went easy on her. I laid a sponge dagger near her throat, not touching because I knew we'd both be in trouble if we interfered with other teams' missions, "I win."

As you might have guessed, she wasn't happy, "You stink." "I just took out four shinobi on a hot summer day, yes I might be a little sweaty." "That's not what I meant and you know it!" I smiled at her, "I know." Then Shikamaru started singing, "Sasuke and Ruko sittin in a tree!" Ino and Choji joined him for the chorus, "K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" I looked down at them, "Shut it you three! You're supposed to be dead!"

I turned back to Ruko and a pair of soft lips pressed to mine. My brain had just enough time to screech to a halt before I got shoved out of the tree. I managed to catch hold of the branch with my chakra and hang there upside down, then Ruko bounced to another branch and hit me in the stomach with a paint ball shuriken. "I win!" She called cheerfully as she bounded away through the trees and Ino, Shikamaru and Choji gaped for a moment before howling with laughter.

I almost lost my grip with my chakra and fell on my head. I wiped the paint on my stomach, red. Not only had she had pilfered _and_ hit me with my own paint ball, she had hit me in my briefly exposed stomach so that it wouldn't show unless I picked my shirt up. I couldn't decide if I was embarrassed, impressed or somewhat confused. I decided on all three and decided to just call it a sign of good things to come.

She denied it later and acted like it hadn't happened, but me and the guys knew, along with I think pretty much everyone else thanks to Ino. As far as first kisses go, that's pretty damn good. It was a lot harder to fight her after that though.

==Three Months Later==

Final Combat Exam for Third Years, I have an idea who they'll pair me with as I walk into the classroom. There aren't many people in our class who can compete with me in a fight, especially if it's no holds barred. I look around as I sit down, _Ruko looks pumped, she's probably itching to fight me. Cousin Izana_ (Obito and Rin's daughter) _looks like she's trying to still her nerves, very still and quiet, eyes closed, hands folded, breath coming steady, even and deep, she's trying to keep her pulse under control_. _And the real bugger, Menma..._

Leaned back sharpening his favorite knife with a grin, _great, he's raring to go too..._ Perhaps I should explain about Menma, since I know I did at least one double take when I found out about him. You see it's perfectly normal in this world for polygamy to take place among the higher echelons of society, and Noble Clans and Kages are included in those echelons. Menma is the result of a political marriage between Minato Namikaze and Miso Uchiha. Yeah, that makes him my cousin too, as well as Ruko's half brother. Every time I've been over to the Namikaze place they've all seemed to get on fairly well.

Menma is the polar opposite of what we know as Canon Naruto. Naruto rushes in without thinking and survived on luck a lot of times, Menma's always got a plan and doesn't leave squat to chance because he's never won a game of dice or cards in his life. Naruto's loud, Menma's quiet. Naruto's hot blooded, Menma's got ice in his veins. Naruto didn't have the faintest clue about Hinata's crush on him, Menma's as tongue tied over Hinata as she was over Naruto in canon. Naruto was regarded as an idiot, Menma's tied with me, Ruko and Ino for the top spot. Ruko's top in Team Work, Ino's top in Genjutsu, I'm top in Ninjutsu and Menma's tops in Taijutsu. We're all tied on everything else.

Here's Iruka-sensei, "Well class as you know today is your Combat Final. I hope you're ready. When I call your name, go to the arena and be prepared for combat. Shino, you're first." Iruka went down the roll, only sending one person at a time, which seemed very strange and made me wonder just exactly who we were going to have to fight. Then it was my turn. I strode down the hallway, my pulse not quite steady as I wondered who my opponent would be.

I opened the door and stepped in. It was dark, no lights on, a fight in the dark? "Close the door," The instructor ordered. I did and then I was instructed to take five steps straight forward into the ring. I did and as the lights slammed on I saw Itachi and the instructor yelled "BEGIN!" Itachi was on me in an instant and before I could avert my eyes, I saw something that made my blood run cold. Before I tell you what it was, let me explain a few things.

Number one, Itachi had been on a deep cover mission in Lightning Country for over a year, I didn't know he was back yet. I damn sure wasn't ready for him to be my opponent. Number two, there are some things which never leave the clan, things nobody could mimic to impersonate one of us, like the Mangekyo Sharingan having a different design from an ordinary Sharingan. Number three, Obito was the first person to unlock the Mangekyo Sharingan since Madara; nobody's had one since, and even among the Uchiha, very, _very_ few know that they're different for everybody. A phony would try to use Obito's in the wrong head and give themselves away, this was the real thing.

Something had happened up in Lightning Country, something very VERY bad. I managed to get him off me for a brief instant with a reflexive blast from my Fire Fist, thankfully the shockwave from that snapped me out of the genjutsu before he could even land. It had been a much bigger blast than usual, his genjutsu had screwed with my control momentarily and my side was burned from my own blast.

He landed badly and I immediately knew he was off his game from whatever had happened in Lightning Country. He also looked like he'd had his ass kicked back to the village on a nonstop flight from Hidden Cloud on Air Boot. _Time for therapy later,_ I thought as I sprang and almost got him with my Fire Fist, _For now, Sasuke smash._ And smash I did. Itachi's face that is. Even knowing he was very off his game, it was still deeply satisfying to finally land that knockout punch on him, especially so quickly. There was some applause from the shadows, I was told I passed, take Itachi, go home and have a nice break.

I hauled Itachi out and was immediately pounced by two ANBU Black Ops Agents, "We'll take him from here." Dad was there too and told me it was okay, so Itachi was hauled off and I was left outside the Academy with Dad watching my big brother get dragged off, "What happened to him Dad?" "His mission was badly compromised," Dad said with a quiet grimness, "He'll probably be kicked out of ANBU over it, possibly banned from ninja work altogether or even kicked out of the village." "Who died?" I asked quietly. "Cousin Shusui," Dad said quietly, "I guess you saw Itachi's eyes too?" I nodded, "Does Shisui know yet?" Dad shook his head, "He's on a mission, he'll be back soon."

"Do we know what happened?" Dad shook his head, "They haven't told us yet. Maybe we'll know soon."

It was a week before I saw Itachi again, and when I found out what he'd done I didn't know whether to slug him or shake his hand. Shisui was so upset over his brother's death that his Mangekyo went active, so of course he opted for slugging Itachi through a wall, which was probably the appropriate response. His mission had been compromised because of him, his partner and best friend had been killed, also his fault, and he had caused an international incident which was forcing him to defect to Hidden Cloud to prevent a war. He had eloped with the Raikage's daughter and gotten her pregnant.

It would've been hilarious if it weren't so serious. The Raikage had come down in person to blow his top, and I heard something about the treaty with Hidden Cloud becoming an out and out alliance. This struck me as something of a good thing, Hidden Cloud's never been a slouch. I figure not having to worry about them anymore would be a good thing, but I knew Itachi was still in deep shit over it and I needed to keep my mouth shut. I even managed to not wolf whistle when Itachi brought Z to meet us, and to be honest, I probably would've done the same thing Itachi had if she had put the moves on me like he says she did him.

I gotta give it to Itachi, he's got damn good taste in women. Z was the only reason the Raikage and Killer Bee hadn't killed Itachi too when they found out about him and Shusui. She's a Jonin, drop dead gorgeous, good family, Itachi swears she's stronger than he is, and if she's got her daddy's Lightning Release I think I probably believe him. He also claims it was her idea to use him to force Leaf into an alliance, so that's, something. I'm not sure what to count it under, devious points? Whatever it is, she's a solid 10 and I can't blame Itachi in the slightest for falling for her, although I have a feeling very few people who know the specifics of how their marriage happened share that opinion.

I know Ruko and Menma weren't the least bit pleased about losing their beloved uncle Shusui, so I avoid mentioning Itachi around them. I did manage to catch Itachi alone right before they were formally married (and the Raikage insisted on making a _huge_ deal of it). I told Itachi that even if he was an idiot for doing it like that, I was still proud of my big brother for pulling something this good off, and in the long run I was right, it has been a good thing. I think that hope that it might turn out to be a good thing was the only thing that helped him get through all the other Uchiha, and ANBU, and ordinary Jonin, and Cloud Nin, and Kages, and Jinchuriki, pretty much everybody really, glaring holes in his back. It was a beautiful wedding, and Z was a stunning bride. If not for the circumstances, I think that would've been the party of the century.

But of course, it wasn't. Everyone wore nice faces and was polite, but the whole place felt liable to erupt into violence at the drop of a hat. We got through it though, not a single incident despite all the tension. The Cloud Nin all went home afterwards and took Itachi with them. He never came back.

After that it was almost like Itachi had been kicked out of the clan, nobody ever talked about him again. Nobody gave him the slightest mention, all pictures with him in them were put away, it was like he had been erased from the record completely. He still wrote me periodically. He included a picture of my niece and nephew in a letter not long after the wedding. He had another set before I graduated the Academy, triplets this time, and they're all five adorable. Mom secretly gushes over them, and I think Dad might too, but never openly. Itachi looked really happy in those pictures, and so did the kids and Z. He sounded happy too, but I always wondered if he knew that he had been all but erased from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. I never had the heart to tell him.


	3. Chapter 2: The Graduation Exams Begin

=Chapter 2-The Graduation Exams Begin=

==Five years later==

Here we are again, good old classroom 113, Iruka sensei up front addressing the class. Today though is different, today is the day we've all been looking forward to. Those of us who want to be here that is. I've learned over the course of my time in the academy that there are a great many who are only at the academy because it's either the only school available or their parents forced them to. A great many of them don't have any motivation or inclination at all towards shinobi work. Little wonder the shinobi training program has a fifty percent fail rate once final pass/fail approval tests come around, it would be a fifty percent dropout rate if half these kids could. It's made them all tougher though and even if they don't make the bar as shinobi, they _will_ make fine soldiers in the event of war.

Speaking of the final pass/fail approval tests, those are today. Rather, they _start_ today. The shinobi wannabe's (I must include myself in this category, I'm not officially a shinobi at this point {yet}) will be going through a different test every day with all available Jonin instructors over the next week or so. They'll be taking it in shifts so that each of the Jonin Instructors can inspect each of their potential future students properly, make sure they'll be up to snuff and see if they'll fit well with the particular instructor's teaching style.

Iruka sensei's talking blahblahblah, here come the jonin instructors. Holy crap my nose is bleeding, is that? That's gotta be Anko. Oh damn, the animation didn't do her justice...WOW. That armor mesh hugs her figure perfectly and the coat provides just the right amount of covering to make her absolutely heart pounding. Let's see, who all else is here, Asuma, sideburns and cigarette that's gotta be him. Might Guy, no mistaking the jumpsuit and bowl cut... wait what? Why is Guy here? If he's here, then who's heading up Squad 9 and being Rock Lee's role model? Is that, that is. That's _Kabuto_... HE'S A JONIN INSTRUCTOR?! WHAT?!

There are a few other familiar faces, Cousin Shisui, I think that's, holy crap _Obito? I might have Obito as a Jonin Instructor?!_ There are a few more that made my brain go into mental lockdown, but oddly enough no Kakashi. An odd thought occurs to me, _Oh no, I'm not going to have to put up with Guy am I? Please no...If the ladies see me in a jumpsuit like that, they'll want to take me home! Poor Sakura would bleed to death through the nose! Ino and Ruko too! Lord Hokage'd have my hide!_

Iruka started ticking off the names, I'd be with Ibiki Morino first. Oh. My. _F***._ The head of ANBU's Interrogations and Torture Unit, what sort of absolute hell has he got cooked up? I've met the man. I'd take Hell over being stuck in a room with him in a bad mood any day of the week. Sadistic, scary, evil genius doesn't even _begin_ to cover it.

==One Hour Later==

 _Ow...Simple training exercise my ass..._ I thought irritably as I bounded through the trees. _Sending us up against ANBU, he's crazy! Just getting away from them would be hard enough, but now I've gotta go pull Onji and Hakuro's chops out of the fire too! Those two don't even want to be shinobi, why do they have to take this exam?! I hope that guy doesn't make it back to the base before I do, if they find out about my blaze grenades I'll never be able to get em off Onji and Hakuro!_

I finally reached the first obstacle, the creek. Seven meters wide in a gully five meters deep. I transformed into a crow and flew towards the start point, where Onji and Hakuro were being held. I looked to the left and to the right, good my shadow clones were in formation. On my own in a one on one fight I might not be able to handle ANBU, but five small flying grenade launchers might do the trick.

There's the starting point, Onji and Hakuro are tied up. No way they'll be able to run. Great, the other guy beat me back. Well, nothing to do about it except this. My shadow clones opened their beaks and unleashed what I had come to affectionately refer to as my Blaze Grenade Jutsu. It's a sphere of compressed fire chakra. I can't spin it like a Rasengan if I want to get any distance on it, but it makes a nice kaboom anyway.

One of the ANBU guys made an earth wall and deflected it. I tell myself it only worked because I wasn't really trying to blow them up, but I know they probably could've handled whatever I had. _Here's hoping this works_... My cables shot out, snagged Onji and Hakuro and retracted, pulling them back out of the starting ring as quickly as I could, then my brain caught fire and down I went.

==I'm Not Sure How Much Later==

 _CRAP! Where,_ _Oh, there was another one...Morino probably planned this..._ Speaking of, Morino was grinning at me, "Well that was a noble attempt to save your friends, but it failed in the end. That was a very impressive combination of jutsu you used out there. Train with it a little more and you might be able to pass a test like this some day. Now though, as I told you, you're going to have to undertake a different sort of test for failing the other one."

I shrugged with a smile, "Fail is such a strong word Morino sensei, I like to call it 'passed with flying colors'." Morino frowned at me, "Come again?" I grinned and dispersed. At the finish line of the obstacle course I picked up the walkie-talkie as the shadow clone returned, "Sasuke to Morino sensei. Come in Morino Sensei." "You do realize that if you finished without Onji and Hakuro you failed right? I thought I made that very clear." I smiled, "You did! You clearly haven't poked them very hard yet because Onji and Hakuro are right here!" "What?!" My other two shadow clones dispersed and returned.

A moment later Morino spoke from behind us and we all jumped half out of our skins, "Well, I guess you pass my first test." He extended a hand and I shook it, "That was a very clever trick, wrapping your Shadow Clones in bandages so that they could withstand impact. Congratulations, you pass." I smiled, "Yes sir! Thank you sir!" Then he turned to Onji and Hakuro, "You two both have psychological records that indicate you would not be suited for shinobi work. Do you wish to halt your shinobi career and take up other work?"

Onji and Hakuro flinched slightly and then traded a glance before bowing, "Yes Morino sensei." Morino nodded and wrote something on a clipboard, "Very well. You are both dismissed, congratulations on finishing the program." "Thank you Morino sensei," they replied before turning to leave. Then Onji turned around and hugged me, "Thanks for helping us Sasuke." She kissed me on the cheek and then ran off. Hakuro blinked as he watched her go and then he grinned and extended a hand, "Well I'm not kissin ya, but thanks." I shook the hand, "See ya around Hakuro." Then I was the last one there.

It took me about thirty seconds to realize I was alone with the Head of Interrogations and Torture and then I started sweating, "Am I dismissed too?" Morino's massive paw of a hand landed on my shoulder and I could tell he was grinning, "Not a chance. Let's talk."

Morino steered me away from the main village and off we went. "That was quite some plan you pulled off back there," he said amiably, "It takes real talent to pull something like that off in the few brief moments we lost sight of the three of you." "I had good teachers," I replied nervously _crap crap crap what does he want?!_ "Yes, your brother and father are fine shinobi," Morino replied, still smiling a smile that was kind of hard to see because he was easily head and shoulders taller than me.

I blinked, that was the first time anyone had mentioned Itachi since his marriage to Z. I must have subconsciously flinched or something because Morino looked down at me, "Something wrong?" "No that's, just the first time anyone's mentioned Itachi since he left." Morino nodded, "I see. Your father and mother don't talk about him?" I shook my head, "No, ever since he left it's like he was erased from history." "That must be very difficult for you." I shook my head, "No, I understand. Itachi bungled a mission, got cousin Shusui killed and nearly started a war. I know exile when I see it," I replied grimly.

"It's not an exile you agree with is it?" Morino asked. I looked at him and took a deep breath, "No. The alliance with Hidden Cloud has cut down on our casualties in the north tremendously, and not having to worry about two great beasts and an army of cloud nin next time a war breaks out is reassuring. At least to me." "You think Cloud will honor their agreement in the event of war?" "I think Itachi will be able to account for a large enough number of their forces that we won't have to worry about them." "Really? And why do you say that?"

I tapped the side of my head, "Itachi's picked up some new tricks that'll make him strong enough to turn whatever tide they want to bring." "Really? We haven't received any word about that." I grimaced, "We're not supposed to talk about it outside the clan, and I doubt Itachi would use it unless his family came under attack. It's a hell of a trump card and he's always been good at playing things close to his chest." "So close that even Z wouldn't know about it?"

I ground my teeth, "Z might know, but she's loyal to her children, not her father. With the Raikage's health in decline _she_ may be Raikage before long, and she'll keep to the treaty." "The Raikage's health is failing?" "Too much stress, he's always angry. His high blood pressure will get him yet." Morino nodded, "I see. You've kept up correspondence with your brother then?" "He writes me, I'm not allowed to write back. I'm surprised ANBU doesn't read every letter I get from him." Morino grinned, "Speaking of ANBU, you're my first passed student this year, and you come from a long line of ANBU operatives. Are you going to keep up the tradition?"

 _Nice change of subject there Scary Gigante Gonzales,_ I shook my head, "I doubt it." Morino was actually surprised by that, "Why not?" I snorted, "Who would ever trust the kid brother of the guy who nearly caused a war getting some local tail? No I don't think ANBU really wants me. You might be objective enough to accept me, but who else would? I think I'll just stick to regular shinobi work. Better than having everyone I work with muttering behind my back and waiting for me to screw up bigger than Itachi."

"You don't want to try and redeem his failure?" My expression hardened, "Sir if I go into ANBU with that as my reason, then my brother will lose the only leg of support he still has in our clan. Those kids are going to need training in the clan's ways one day, and I think he'll bring them here for it. There needs to be someone here who won't shun him, and if I'm trying to 'redeem his failure' as you put it, then that's tantamount to saying I think he's a failure and it'll kick his knees out from under him before he ever even gets back. I'm not going to do that to my brother, and even if it's not my reason, if I go into ANBU everyone will think it is, and that's just as bad."

"Besides," I grinned, "I'm not cut out for ANBU work. I'm too direct and honest. I'm the guy who likes to blow things up, not the guy who can go into deep cover for months or years on end! I'd be terrible at ANBU work!" I sobered up, took a deep breath and sighed, "It would be an honor to train under you sir, I have nothing but respect for you and your abilities, but if it means I'll be going into ANBU, for the sake of my brother's honor and the integrity of future ANBU missions which might be compromised by my ineptitude, I must respectfully decline."

Morino was quiet for a moment, then, "Well Sasuke, you're going to make a fine shinobi one day. I'm sorry you won't be coming to work for me in ANBU, and a talented young man like yourself will probably be snapped up by one of the other instructors quite quickly, but I will respect your decision and the reasons behind it. Congratulations on passing, I look forward to seeing you compete with my future students. You're dismissed." I bowed, "Thank you Morino sensei. Have a nice day!" I called over my shoulder as I started off. _Wow, that went shockingly well..._


	4. Chapter 3: The Graduation Exams Pt2

Chapter 3-The Graduation Exams Part 2

==The Next Day==

Shisui's test was very simple. "We recently busted a cell of spies. We're pretty sure we've gotten all the information we can out of them," Shisui told us cheerfully, "Now we just need to execute them. That's where you three come in." I traded glances with Hinata and Shino. Hinata's mouth was a thin grim line, and Shino's expression was as always inscrutable. "I want you three to each take one of those rooms and get any information you can out of them, then kill them."

He directed us to our rooms and in we went. The lights were off when we went in. Shisui flipped the lights on behind us, "Take as much time as you need, write down anything you learn, and don't come out until you're finished." My heart skipped several beats as I saw the figure chained to the chair in front of the table. _Oh no..._ I knew that haircut, and she was every bit as beautiful as I'd expect. I sat down on the edge of the table and plucked the gag from her mouth. She glared at me and I could see that whoever had caught her hadn't been gentle with her.

I pulled over the clipboard with the information they'd already gotten out of her and my breath caught ever so slightly as I saw the name on it. I set it down, pulled out a knife and whetstone and started sharpening it, "Name?" She just glared. I ran a thumb over the edge of my knife, then went back to sharpening it, "If you cooperate this will be easier on you." No response. I nodded and then stood up, I walked over behind her chair and laid a hand on her shoulder before sliding the fingers around to her throat.

I whispered her name in her ear and told her, "You knew I'd find out, why not just tell me your name?" "Isn't it on your little clipboard?" she spat. "Even if it were, I'd still want to hear it from you," I told her as my hand went back to her shoulder. She snorted and then told me her name sullenly. I nodded, "Very good. Where are you from?" She told me she was just a merchant. I casually ignited my finger and pressed it into a pressure point just behind her collarbone and gritted my teeth as she screamed in pain. When I removed my finger I said quietly, "We both know that's not true." "Then why did you ask?"

"I wanted to see if you were going to cooperate, I suppose you're not. Which hand do you write with?" "Left." She screamed again as I buried my knife to the hilt in her right shoulder. I ripped it out grimly and shoved a burning finger into the wound, cauterizing it immediately and earning a fair deal more screaming. "If you don't tell me everything you know, I'm going to skin you like an animal, starting at your extremities and working my way up. Don't think I'll let you bleed to death prematurely either. I'll keep you alive through having your face peeled off if I have to. I don't think you want that to happen anymore than I do. So start talking unless you think calling my bluff is a good idea. I'll warn you now that it's not."

She started talking after that and told me quite a lot about her village. When she ran out of things to say I flipped her chair and pulled her shoe off before bringing the tip of my knife to the point of her little toe, "Sure there's not anything else?" She started blabbering every little thing she could think of, her shoe size, her brother's love of cheese, everything. I set her back up right facing away from me and she kept going. I'm not sure how long she talked, but I wrote down every word. By the time she was done, I probably knew more about her than her own family.

"And that's everything I know! Absolutely everything! Now please, just let me go!" Tears had been falling for a while now, but this was the first time her voice had cracked, "I'm scared, I can never go home now, please, just let me go!" I rose from where I was sitting on the table. I walked around to face her and leaned down, "I don't know if you're real, or if this is just a test, but if you are, then I'm sorry about this." Her head bounced on the floor an instant later. I collected my clipboard and walked out. I couldn't meet Shisui's eyes as I handed him my clipboard, "I don't care if it's true Shisui, tell me that was your mangekyo messing with my head and a dummy."

Shisui didn't answer for several moments, he was looking through all the information I had written down. When he was done looking through the several sheets of paper I had filled to the margins, he extended a hand and I shook it. "Good job," he told me, "Wait for the others and I'll let you know if you passed," he told me. He never did answer me.

I sat in a waiting room for what felt like hours, trying to get the terror in her eyes out of my head. Hinata and Shino came in with Shisui later and he sat us all down. "Good job you three, you all passed. Shino, excellent composure." Shino's expression was still inscrutable, "Thank you Shisui sensei." Shisui went down the line, "Hinata, excellent use of sweet talk and seduction." Hinata blushed a little. He turned to me, "And Sasuke, good use of intimidation and force as well as brilliant execution. You all got all the information available. Good job, you all pass. Dismissed."

The sun was setting as we left ANBU headquarters. Hinata and I went to find some dinner, Shino politely declined on the grounds of being full. I could imagine how he had interrogated his subject and suspected that had something to do with it. We sat at the table quietly for quite a while. After we ordered our drinks, "That was awful," Hinata whispered, staring at the table. "Yeah," I agreed quietly. "What was yours called?" Hinata asked quietly. We were suddenly interrupted by Ruko and Menma walking by and loudly greeting us. They stopped their enthusiastic greetings as soon as they saw our faces. I sighed, "Interrogation exam," I explained.

Then I looked at the table, "Her name was Temari. Temari of the Sand."

==Day 3==

I didn't sleep worth a shit that night, and it must have shown because even though they thought I didn't, I did notice the concerned looks. By nine o'clock, Might Guy was kicking me in the gut so hard I shook the massive oak he knocked me into. Guy bounced in place, his hands still up, "Come on kid! You want this you gotta earn it!" I took a minute to get up and Guy actually stopped bouncing. He crossed his arms and frowned at me, "I'm disappointed Sasuke. Very disappointed. You're supposed to be next Uchiha clan head, and this is the best you can do?"

I don't know what it was about that, but something about the way he said it made me mad. I'm not a very ragey person. I don't get mad easily. When I do though...

Everything seemed to settle, my pulse, my jittery nerves, and as I slid into the zone, Guy grinned and settled back into his fighting stance. I crouched; there weren't any thoughts in my head, just the vicious clarity I hadn't felt since I had gotten this body. My chakra flow went from a calm stream to a madly roaring flood and I willed the spill over the combust. A split second later I Body Flickered forward and drove a burning fist towards Guy's head. I twisted as he blocked it and almost got him in the nose. He blocked again and I spun as I landed, swinging a sweep and then rolling as he jumped over my sweep and tried to dropkick me. I spun to my feet and narrowly caught his kick with my forearm and shoulder. It still knocked me off balance so much that I fell, but I rolled and leapt back at him, my fist enveloped in a blazing fireball.

He leapt back out of my reach and I launched the fireball at him. Almost got him too. He dodged it and then his fist was slamming into my solar plexus so hard that my feet went about three feet off the ground. I'm not gonna lie, it was freakin hard to get up after that. I did though, I was too mad to quit now. Then he kicked me upside the head so hard I was unconscious before I finished the full body spin.

I'm not sure when I came to, I don't think it was long. My jaw hurt, a lot. I was fairly sure it was broken. I exhaled through my nose and sat up. Guy looked over his shoulder and I got up, vividly remembering my former sensei talking about how brutal fighting had been when he had been younger, _"If you got your jaw broken you duct taped it back together and kept fighting."_ _Damn right sensei..._ "We're not done." I Body Flickered at an upward angle as Guy set up to fight and managed to land a kick in his chest. He didn't even flinch.

I pushed off him and sprang back, my chakra roaring into a blaze again as I landed. This time I blew out a Fireball Jutsu and caught a Leaf Hurricane in the face for it. As I slammed into the tree trunk again, I was quite certain my nose was broken. I didn't have time to dwell on it though. Guy's foot connected with my head again and knocked me rolling. I landed on my back and caught what felt like a thousand pound flying pile driver to the chest. Ribs broke. It hurt like hell. I tried to blow a fireball at him anyway only for it to peter out a foot and a half from my face as my lung felt like it had daggers digging into it. I tried to breathe shallowly and then I sat up as he was walking away. I rose unsteadily to my feet with one hand covering the spot where it felt like there was a hole in my chest, "Not...yet."

Guy looked at me, "Sasuke, your jaw, nose and at least two ribs are broken. You're in no condition to fight." "If I'm not dead," I panted, "You're not... keeping me down." Guy settled into his stance and I pushed a foot back and raised a hand to cover my face, it was the best I could do. The pain was enough that I could barely concentrate, but I'd be damned if I was going to let him walk away unscathed. Guy rocketed forward and somehow he seemed to be in slow motion even though I could tell he wasn't.

Just as he was almost on top of me I saw his eyes widening and then my kunai from the hand that had been covering my chest slammed into his shoulder and I dodged under his right hook, letting his momentum pull the blade as deep through the muscle in his arm as I could get it before he shot past me and took my blade with him. As he landed, still in that weird sort of slow motion, I launched myself after him and drove a flaming elbow into the side of his face as he turned. He staggered and then his left uppercut had me unconscious before I hit the ground.

==Sometime Later That Day==

I woke up and out the corner of my eye found Kiba and Shikamaru holding ice packs to their heads on the cot next to mine. I didn't raise up, my entire chest and head felt like they were filled with warm heavy throbbing syrupy soreness. There was however a cool sensation spreading slowly from the center of the soreness in my chest and I heard someone say, "Good he's coming around. You put up quite a fight Sasuke. I can't remember the last time an examinee actually managed to hit Guy, let alone actually hurt him. You did such a good job that he had to fight Shikamaru and Kiba with one arm in a sling."

"He still kicked our asses," Kiba grumbled, "but not nearly as hard as yours." I wanted to point out that I was only more torn up because I had fought back harder, but I couldn't. Shikamaru did though and if my face hadn't been so sore I couldn't move it, I would've grinned. Then the medic added, "You should really be thanking Sasuke, thanks to him you all passed two exams today instead of just Guy's."

I managed to furrow my brows in confusion as Shikamaru and Kiba queried the medic. "Well you see my test is a body, chakra and spirit analysis. I can see your chakra and your soul as well as your physical condition and the maximum growth potential of your body and chakra. For example Kiba, you have potentially extremely great speed strength and endurance, but you don't have any patience and the odds of you developing good people skills are slim. Shikamaru has potentially very great chakra and could develop extremely powerful jutsu one day if he can just get around his laziness."

Shikamaru and Kiba both blinked in surprise, "So what about Sasuke?" Shikamaru asked after a moment. The medic replied, "Sasuke actually has tremendous chakra, and he's been accelerating his muscular development by manipulating his chakra since he was an infant. He's physically as strong as he would naturally be in his prime if he wasn't doing heavy labor. However his chakra isn't at all in sync with his spirit, something which should be causing him tremendous and constant pain. However it seems that it never has, and I suspect that's why he has such an easy time manipulating it. With his chakra being out of sync with his soul he's acutely aware of it on a level most people never achieve, but he can still control it because it _is_ in sync with his body and nervous system."

"So the only reason he's so advanced is because his soul is out of sync with his body and chakra?" Kiba said, sounding excited that he had learned my secret. "That does seem to be one reason, but his brain is also unnaturally developed, almost like he remembers a past life. He could have an entire lifetime's worth of memories stored in his head and nobody would ever know unless he told them or was the subject of an in depth exorcism, which would run the risk of killing him." Kiba sat bolt upright and pointed at me, "That's what Akamaru smelled!"

"I beg your pardon?" The medic asked. Shikamaru was staring too now as Kiba explained, "The day we met! Akamaru said he was an adult! And Sasuke said only in his head! I never thought anything about it again, but that's what you meant wasn't it Sasuke?! You're an old man in a kid's body!" The cool sensation had finally reached my jaw so I was finally able to speak, "And what if I am?"

The cool sensation quickly rebuilt my nose, and I sat up as the medic moved his hands away from my chest. I looked at Kiba and Shikamaru, "I don't remember much of my last life, but I do have a little bit of my old skill, little snippets of knowledge. Some of my old mannerisms survived I think. It's not enough for me to count as an old man by any stretch." I looked at the medic that had rebuilt my chest and face, "And thanks for the patch up Kabuto sensei." Kabuto smiled and sat back, "If I recall an old rumor rightly, you _were_ the subject of an exorcism once weren't you?"

I snarled and rubbed the spots where they had stuck needles in my neck, "Yeah." "Was the rumor about what they found out true?" Kabuto asked. I looked at him, "You know I'm not allowed to talk about that." Kabuto shrugged with a smile, "Perhaps, but you want to. You want them to know who you were, because you're still proud of your old self whether you can remember being him or not. Yet at the same time you want to make your current identity one that will be as prominent as your last life, a truly unforgettable legacy."

Shikamaru and Kiba were staring now, and I could tell their curiosity would be killing them until they got an answer. Too bad for them. "Hokage's orders guys," I said, "I'm not telling. You want to know, go bug Lord Hokage, but trust me, you don't want to know." "Why not?" Kiba asked. I grinned a little bit menacingly, "Trust me. You don't want to know." They both looked more than a little intimidated. I got up, "Don't worry fellas, I'm on our side. Was then too." I turned to Kabuto, "Did Guy sensei leave any instructions for after you patched us up?"

Kabuto shook his head, "Nope. Said you passed have a good day and if he's your Jonin Instructor he'll see you at the graduation ceremony. Also since you three passed already, you'll get the day off on the day you're supposed to be with me." I nodded, "cool. Let's go guys."

We walked out and I paused as I stepped outside and the Hokage Monument came into view. I looked at the face on the far left. Even after all this time, it still seemed a little weird to see that face up there. Shikamaru and Kiba paused. Shikamaru followed my gaze and I could see the realization visibly hit him as he realized whose chakra I had inherited. I patted him on the shoulder as I walked past him, "Best not to mention it eh Shikamaru?"

I heard Kiba ask him who I was and Shikamaru sounded like he was pale as he replied, "The First Hokage... he's not Sasuke Uchiha...he's _Madara._ " "WHAT?!" Kiba exclaimed as I Body Flickered away, _Told you ya didn't want to know._


	5. Chapter 4: Nighttime on the Rooftops

Chapter 4-Night Time On The Rooftops Of The Leaf

==That Night==

My shadow clone slithered out through the window in the form of a black cat, a form I had a surprisingly easy time assuming, and I yawned happily. My favorite thing about shadow clones is that I can have myself and three of my clones sleeping while the fourth one goes and prowls. The thing about shadow clones is that even though exhaustion and pain come back to the user when they break or dissipate, any energy they might build up through resting or eating comes back too.

I padded across the yard and bounced up through the branches of a tree in the garden to the top of the wall. Since my shadow clone still had my full strength despite being in the form of a cat, the leap across to the next house was easy. I casually padded down the roof line, _Where to go tonight?_ I bounded from rooftop to rooftop, _I'll go check on the others. If the other tests have been as rough on them as these last two were for me, they might need a good prowl to cheer them up._

Izana's first, she lives closest. I bounce over the rooftops and pause as I land on a rooftop across the street from her window. Snoring contently. I purred slightly, I don't care if she's biologically related to this body, she's hot. I bounce away, no need for help there. Next is Ino's place. A few moments later I padded up next to her. She was sitting on her rooftop in her pajamas looking up at the moon with her hair down. I settled down next to her, laid down on my tummy and purred. She jumped a little and then smiled, "Hello. Where did you come from?"

She reached down and I let her pet my ears before I turned back into myself, albeit with cat ears and tail. She recoiled in surprise, "Sasuke?! What are you doing here?" I frowned slightly and looked over my shoulder at her, "I was enjoying having my head scratched by a pretty girl." She looked like she couldn't decide whether to be flattered or annoyed, so I sighed, "I'm making my rounds checking on everybody. I know at least one of the exams has been tough on at least my mind, I wanted to make sure everyone was okay." I brushed my cat tail, which was about as long as my arm, across her shoulder, "So, are you okay? You looked like you were thinking mighty hard."

Ino pulled her knees up to her chin and looked away, "I don't want to talk about it." I pushed myself up onto all fours and stretched, sliding back into cat form, "Well, if you need someone to talk to, you know where to find me. By the way," I rubbed my side along her shins in that way that cats do, "You look very nice with your hair down." Her mouth quirked with a slight smile and I knew that even if I wasn't able to get her to spill out all her problems to me so I could console her, I had at least made her feel a little better.

I considered swinging past the Inuzuka place to check on Kiba, but Akamaru and his siblings wouldn't take well to a cat dropping by. I had no particular interest in waking up half the village or in getting mauled by a pack of dogs, so I passed on by. Off to Hinata's!

It didn't take me long to reach the Hyuga district, and Hinata's house was easy to find. It was easily the biggest house there. I paused as I spotted a still figure lying on the rooftop across the street from Hinata's place and padded over. Menma looked at me and shushed me silently with his free hand before turning his attention back to what, or more probably _who_ ever he was watching. I blinked, must be one heck of a show, Menma doesn't like cats. I blame his Inuzuka lineage, they're not big on cats either. I followed his gaze to see what could possibly have him so rapt that he didn't even try to shoo me away, and my tail stood straight on end in surprise, _HINATA?!_

I won't go into detail, but that Menma's nose wasn't bleeding was amazing. I'm not sure mine wasn't! I remembered what Shisui had said after our interrogation test about "sweet talk and seduction" and started restructuring my entire view of Hinata. Then she finished, her back arching ever so slightly as a whisper too faint for anyone without animal senses to hear escaped her (like me and Menma for example), "Oh Menma..." Menma convulsed next to me and I couldn't blame him. If she had said my name looking like that, I probably would've had the same reaction.

I turned and padded off, those two are doing just fine. I don't think Menma realized what my sharp feline sight had: Hinata had her Byakugan active and was probably able to see him too. Menma you lucky sumunabish. That was one of the hottest things I've ever seen, and in a decade of prowling the rooftops of the Hidden Leaf Village at night, I've seen some seriously hot stuff. That took the cake. No wonder he always gets so tongue tied around her!

Just as I took the turn at Ichiraku Ramen to go to Choji's place a pair of hands picked me up and I found myself face to face with a smiling Naruko. I meowed inquisitively and she simply hugged me and walked off carrying me. I purred a little, definitely worse places to be than snuggled up to Ruko. Then she dropped me in a water barrel. I blew the water barrel apart with my chakra before I could get completely soaked and turned back into myself, only narrowly keeping my shadow clone from breaking just out of sheer surprise.

She was leaned over smiling smugly at me as I shook the water off and superheated my chakra so that I boiled dry. I looked up at her irritably and she just got even more smug, "I thought that was you." Then she reached out and caught me by the back of the shirt, pulled me off balance and dragged me along behind her, "Come on, I want some ramen." She dragged me back around the corner to Ichiraku's, which is apparently open late.

We were greeted warmly and Ruko ordered her ramen to go. Then she pulled me along behind her and we bounced up to the roofs. How she was able to drag me along behind her as we bounced along the rooftops is beyond me, but she did. She didn't stop until we were at one of the highest points in the village, the tallest hill in the large park on the east side of the village. The entire village was laid out in front of us, a dark lawn with a hundred fire flies. Ruko sat down on the grass and started eating her ramen happily. I sat down next to her, she'd talk when she was ready.

She didn't talk until she finished her ramen. When she did, she set it down and looked up at the full moon overhead, "So, Temari of the Sand huh?" I flinched and looked away, "Yeah." "Was she prettier than me?" Ruko asked. My head snapped up and around to look at her, that wasn't the question I was expecting. Then I looked at her a little more closely, the moonlight playing off her sunny blonde hair and blue eyes as she looked at me. I shook my head, "No," I said softly, "They don't make women prettier than you." She smiled at me, "Aww...you _do_ like me!"

I leaned over a little closer to her, "You started it." She grinned and laid her forehead against mine, "You know you loved it." I grinned back, "Yeah, I do." Just as I was about to kiss her, a throat was cleared behind us and we sat up to see Minato standing behind us. I'm not sure who was paler, me or Ruko. "Hi Daddy," Ruko said nervously. Minato came and sat down between us as we hurriedly scooted apart to make room, "Shadow clone prowling huh?"

"Yessir," I replied. "Can't sleep?" he asked amiably. "Just checking on everybody sir," I replied, "The exams are quite stressful, I know yesterday's is probably going to haunt me for a while. I wanted to make sure everyone else was alright." "And how is everybody?" "Ino seems a little unsettled about she wouldn't say what, Izana looked to be sleeping contentedly, the Inuzuka's dogs don't like my prowling form so I wasn't able to check on Kiba, Hinata and Menma are both fine and dandy, I think Ruko's okay. I bumped into you two before I could finish making my rounds." "Well why don't you go finish them." It wasn't a question, it was a _"get out of here and keep your hands and kissy face off my daughter."_

"Yessir!" I said quickly and bolted off in the form of a cat, "See ya around Ruko!" I called over my shoulder. Out the corner of my eye I saw her pouting at Minato, _He's going to make me regret this isn't he?_ I thought nervously as I raced off towards Sakura's. I shot up a wall and bounded across the roof tops. Before long I was sitting on the ledge of Sakura's window, which was open. She was sleeping soundly and just as I was about to leave, she rolled over and her covers fell off her shoulders. I promptly fell out of the window backwards, one very interesting piece of information transmitting very clearly back to my original body as my shadow clone broke: Sakura does not wear pajamas.

I promptly woke up with a grin. Even if Minato came after me for having a crush on Ruko, that made the evening's outing worth it.


	6. Chapter 5: Kabuto

Chapter 5-Kabuto

 _Kabuto_

 _Here we are again, Minato's office for another Jonin meeting. Discussing the new batch of potential genin this time, among other things which will surely come up. Like the relationship between Minato's son Menma and the Hyuga heir Hinata. Kakashi might beat them to it with complaints about the Hyuga's mistreatment of his student, wonder when he's going to do something about that. Wonder if his other two students are aware of how rough their teammate has it. Nervous damage hasn't been getting any less severe, he'll be beyond the point where I can repair it soon. Maybe I should step in._

Minato stood up as the last of the Jonin enter, "Alright we're all here. Somebody get the door." Obito closed the door. _Better space time jutsu than Minato and he's still always the last one to report in. Never late though. 10:00 on the dot._ I got there early and swiped one of the good seats. That poor old file cabinet's seen some use. It's the same one that was there during Lord Third's tenure, and possibly even older than that. Anko bullied Shisui out of her chair and Kakashi was showing off, balanced in a one footed crouch with one leg crossed on the ceiling. Lord Danzo of course had his chair, nobody would dare try to take his chair. Asuma brought a folding camp chair that he was sitting in. A few other people who arrived early managed to swipe pieces of furniture to sit on. Everyone else had to either stand or sit in the floor.

Minato looked around, "Tonight's primary agenda is discussion of the genin candidates. After that we'll move on to other issues. Are there any issues or questions before we get started?" There weren't any replies so Minato nodded, "Very good. Alphabetical order, Anko anything to report?" Anko shot a glare at Asuma, "Impromptu combat trials against the other genin have been an irritating regularity due to Asuma's continued hunting of a certain bear. All my candidates have performed admirably though, Naruko Namikaze, Izana Uchiha, and Kiba Inuzuka showing particular aptitude for combat. All three passed with flying colors. The two that Shikamaru Nara was teamed with bowed out of candidacy as expected, although I'd like to note that both did a good job. Choji Akimichi also performed admirably, as did Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga. Shikamaru Nara displayed a good mastery of his Shadow jutsu, but he's so lacking in motivation that he almost failed. That's all I've had."

Minato looked at Asuma, "Asuma, why are you pestering Anko's bear?" Asuma shrugged nonchalantly with a mischievous grin, "I don't have a great mountain bear yet! How can I turn down a challenge like that?" "Well lay off the bear," Minato told him bluntly, "Anything to report?" Asuma pouted a little, "Two of my first three bowed out, so did one on the second day. Sakura Haruno tries hard but she's lacking in skill. Ino Yamanaka did extremely well, as did Menma Namikaze, Choji Akimichi and Izana Uchiha. I agree Shikamaru's a bright kid but he's got no motivation. All five pass, but only narrowly in the case of Haruno and Nara due to lack of skill on Haruno's part and motivation on Nara's part. If it weren't for how successful a precedent Guy's set, I wouldn't have passed Haruno. That's all." Guy looked a little smug.

Minato nodded, "Alright, Guy?" Guy straightened up, "I agree with Asuma's assessment of Haruno, she'll keep trying until she succeeds. She passed my test with a very high score despite her lack of skill. The only candidate who's matched her score was Sasuke Uchiha today, and I feel certain that if Haruno had a Sharingan, hers would've gone active too." "Sasuke's Sharingan went active?!" Fugaku exclaimed. Guy pointed to his cheek, which he had insisted I let heal naturally as a testament to Sasuke's skill, "What you think just anybody can hit me with a flaming flying elbow strike?" Fugaku's proud grin stretched from ear to ear as Guy continued, "Shikamaru Nara on the other hand is so lacking in drive that I had to fail him. He's got no drive that I can spot whatsoever! He actually had the gall to try surrendering!"

"That explains why he came home with two black eyes, a recently broken nose, and a dislocated shoulder," Shikadai muttered from where he was propped against the file cabinet I was sitting on. I grinned slightly, Shikamaru should've known better than that. Guy continued, "There were two that bowed out of the candidacy the first day, as well as one on the second, but Choji Akimichi passed with a high score as did Menma Namikaze and Kiba Inuzuka."

Minato nodded, "Alright, Ibiki?" Ibiki nodded, "I had two bow out the first day, although I'd like to note that they both passed with perfect scores thanks to the efforts of Sasuke Uchiha." That caused a little bit of a stir, nobody passed Morino's test with a perfect score. "He outfoxed your ANBU?" Fugaku exclaimed. Ibiki nodded, "He did. Gave them the slip five minutes in and got him and his team through the obstacle course totally unscathed while my proctors were dragging his clones back to headquarters to interrogate." No matter what anyone tells you, I swear Fugaku did a little happy dance.

Ibiki managed to keep a straight face and continue his report, "His team has remained the only one to accomplish such a feat, the other two teams I have tested have been captured and submitted to their real test as normal. Sakura Haruno passed by the skin of her teeth, and Choji Akimichi nearly caved at one point, but then he called me some very choice phrases and clammed up most admirably. I didn't get another peep out of him. Ino Yamanaka also performed admirably, spewing quite a deal of rubbish and misinformation, although I would like to note that she did seem a little bit shaky afterwards. Shino Aburame has done the best after Sasuke's team. I couldn't get a single solitary peep out of him. I recommend all three for ANBU training."

"Three?" Minato asked as there was a small wave of confusion, Ibiki never miscounted. "I have already discussed Sasuke Uchiha's prospects with ANBU and he respectfully declined. His reasons are honorable and I will not see him in ANBU." Fugaku wasn't nearly as happy with that report, but he was struck utterly speechless by it, so he wasn't able to say anything before Minato had moved on to me, "Kabuto, what have you found?"

I pushed my glasses up my nose a little, "Izana Uchiha has definite potential and I think will get along well with Anko. They share many personality traits although Izana has a fire affinity as opposed to Anko's water affinity. She is of course physically fit for shinobi work. Hinata Hyuga is also fit for shinobi work with an affinity for earth. Her shyness is actually a sham covering up a true daredevil, I would recommend Anko to teach her as well." "Just trying to shove em all off on me aren't you Kabuto?" Anko asked from her chair.

"Not at all," I replied with a smile, "I also checked over Sasuke Uchiha, Shikamaru Nara and Kiba Inuzuka today after their test with Guy, and I've had four either bow out or deemed physically or psychologically unfit for shinobi work." "And what did you find in the mind of our reincarnated founder?" Danzo asked quietly. On the inside I flinched slightly, _that's_ getting put on the spot, the Third Hokage asking about the reincarnation of the First, outwardly I replied coolly, "I think Sasuke remembers more than he's saying. His body shows signs of chakra accelerated growth since he was an infant, and his brain is far more developed in the regions associated with memory than it should be. His chakra is of course as tremendous as one would expect, but he hasn't just remembered fire release, at some point he's pulled off wind and earth release as well. I also spotted something very interesting, his soul is drastically out of sync with his chakra." _That_ earned a few stares from those with medical training.

Anko sat forward, "What are you saying Kabuto?" I tilted my head, "Just because that's Madara's chakra the boy has, that doesn't mean it's Madara's soul. It may be and he simply had an issue with his reincarnation. Judging by the distinct lack of pain from the disharmony of his soul and chakra, something which should be so agonizing as to be crippling, I'd say that if he's not Madara then he was certainly someone similar. I can't say for sure what he does or doesn't remember, but it does merit further investigation. Since I assume he'll make it into the program, I'd like to go ahead and request him for my team so I can keep an eye on him. He did of course pass my test with flying colors."

Minato nodded, "Granted. Keep an eye on him, but make sure he doesn't feel threatened by your watching." I grinned, "Why of course Minato. As far as he knows it's just a scientific curiosity. Don't worry, I won't scare him off. Would you like my reports on Shikamaru Nara and Kiba Inuzuka now?" Minato nodded, "Go ahead."

I smiled and thought, _this is just a night for rocking people's worlds isn't it?_ "Shikamaru Nara is of course lacking in motivation to physically exert himself, but it's because he's asthmatic." I'm pretty sure Guy flinched in shamed surprise and I felt the file cabinet shake a little as Shikadai erupted away from it as he turned to look at me, " _WHAT?!_ " I didn't look at him, "His soul says that he's very proud, independent and doesn't want anyone to worry about him or think he can't take care of himself, which I would guess is why he's kept it secret. He doesn't have many triggers that will set it off, but if he exerts himself too much it will trigger a mild attack. He's managed that handicap quite admirably though, his self control is second to none."

I looked over my shoulder at Shikadai, "I'll give him a prescription and he should be fit for further shinobi work. I wouldn't expect him to become more inclined towards physical exertion though, his aversion to it has become extremely ingrained and it is a good self defense mechanism against his only major trigger." I turned back to the room, "His mind is razor sharp and reminds me a great deal of Ibiki's, so I'd recommend him for Ibiki's squad if he makes it into the program."

"Kiba Inuzuka also has a prickly ego, but his stems from an inferiority complex and self esteem issues, which he hides with bravado and big talk." Tsume Inuzuka flinched a little as I continued, "He'll do anything to prove he's good enough, something which could be manipulated for better or worse, and he's in very good shape. Whoever gets him will need to work on his self esteem issues, but other than that he appears to be extremely well suited to shinobi work in every way." Tsume looked very embarrassed and unless I'm mistaken her brain bubbled something up about baking a cake. "That's all I've got," I finished cheerfully, "Obito, your turn!"

Obito nodded, "Menma Kiba and Shino were with me the first day, and they're the only ones that have passed the bell test thus far. If they make it in and on the off chance that nobody else wants them I'll train them. They all three performed quite admirably. The other six all flunked." He nodded to Shisui, "Your turn."

Shisui, probably the youngest Jonin in the room stood up from where he was sitting, "Well, Ino Yamanaka passed, she used genjutsu very effectively to break her test dummy. Naruko Namikaze did a fine job weedling information out of hers, mixing sweet talk, threats, force, and pretty much every tactic she could think of very well." Minato and Inoichi both looked pleased.

"The third candidate that day bowed out after failing," Shisui continued, "As did the three I had today. However Sasuke Uchiha, Shino Aburame and Hinata Hyuga all passed. Sasuke Uchiha was very effective in balancing his use of force and threats, although I should note that he did express some reluctance in dealing with his test dummy, which was designed to test the likelihood of his repeating my cousin's mistake a few years ago in Hidden Cloud." "You mean it was a girl?" Danzo asked. Shisui bowed, "Yessir, I intentionally modeled the test dummy after the Kazekage's daughter, who has a great many things in common with the Raikage's daughter."

Danzo nodded, he was familiar with Temari, "I see. He shares his brother's taste in women then." He looked at the ceiling, "Ironically that was also Lord First's preference. Good thinking testing him for that. The Kazekage's daughter could've posed a theoretical threat to his integrity." Anko snorted with a slight grin as Fugaku quietly sulked a little, "Never mind that there's another blue eyed blonde Kage's daughter here in Hidden Leaf who might've already snagged his attention." Minato's expression was probably the most priceless of the bunch, and that earned quite a few, as well as an explosion of laughter from Anko, who wagged a finger at Minato, "Now don't you give me that look! I've seen how those two act around each other! They like each other and you know it!" Minato growled a little and ground his teeth, "Shisui, continue with your report."

Shisui bowed nervously, "Yessir! Shino Aburame had excellent composure while he was interrogating his test dummy, and his methodology was quite frankly one of the scariest things I've ever seen. I highly recommend him for interrogations training." Ibiki nodded and he went on, "And Hinata Hyuga demonstrated a very impressive mastery of sweet talk and seduction during her test. She got results as good as Sasuke and Shino without the need for any force at all until she severed his spinal cord at the base of the skull. All three were highly successful, although I think Hinata and Sasuke have no interest in ever doing it again if they can avoid it. Um...that's everybody I've had." Minato nodded, "Very good."

He sat back in his chair and sighed, "Any other issues that need to be discussed?" Hiashi Hyuga raised a hand and Minato sighed, "Yes Hiashi I know. We'll talk about that afterwards." Hiashi nodded and then Kakashi raised, or rather lowered given that he was upside down, his hand. Minato looked up at him, "Go ahead Kakashi." Kakashi nodded, stood and turned a cold look on Hiashi, "I've asked you before Hiashi; this is the last time I'm going to ask politely. Lay off my student. Your overuse of the birdcage seal will kill him if you continue to abuse it so. Kabuto has been working on him on an almost daily basis for the last two months and has declared the repeated damage to pose a threat of being irreparable if not stopped."

Hiashi shifted uncomfortably as every eye in the room turned on him, none friendly. "I've tried to stop the other clansmen from using it, but I can't watch him every minute of every day and night!" "Actually," I drawled, "Something you might not be aware of is that the Birdcage Seal records who activates it. Seven hundred and forty nine out of the total seven hundred and fifty activations were you." Hiashi flinched as the unfriendly gazes turned absolutely frigid, "alright alright I'll lay off the kid!" "Do I have your word on that?" Kakashi asked quietly. Hiashi thought about getting indignant, then, "Fine. You have my word. I won't activate his seal again." "We'll hold you to that," Anko warned quietly. "Agreed," Minato and I chorused.

==Four Hours Later==

 _Menma_

I jumped slightly as I heard the bellowing start from my rooftop. It wasn't uncommon for Hiashi to get stinking drunk in the middle of the night and go on little rampages. He had never touched Hinata though, or I would've killed him. I wasn't too sure about Hanabi though, and I knew Neji caught the brunt of most of Hiashi's wrath. Why Neji I'm not sure, but I know he'd been to the doctor a lot recently. Suddenly, just as the bellowing was getting started and Hinata was edging towards her balcony, three figures appeared at the front door and one kicked it in before they advanced through.

 _Kakashi_

Hiashi looked surprised for just an instant as I knocked down his front door. "Going back on your word already Hiashi?" I asked quietly, narrowly keeping my anger in check so that I didn't just jump across the room to kill him. There would be time for a trial, and I hoped formal execution later.

I went to check on Neji as the Birdcage Seal deactivated. He was curled into a ball on the ground shaking, his eyes wide, but not seeing through the searing pain left in wake of the seal's activation. Tenten cast a glare at Hiashi and I've never been more thankful for her nearly unassailable status as a shaman, "I am taking Neji as my servant. He is no longer a part of your clan and you no longer have any authority over him. Your consent is not required. Lee-kun, go gather Neji-kun's belongings." Lee vanished in a blast of white smoke as she continued, "Kakashi-sensei would you bring Neji?"

I nodded and hefted Neji over my shoulder. Hiashi attempted to protest and I took the excuse to Body-Flicker across the room and drive my elbow into his stomach. I slammed the back of my fist into his face hard enough to break his nose and I think a few teeth out for good measure. Then a little girl came running out from behind a column as Hiashi sprawled on the floor narrowly conscious and clung to Tenten's robes, "Take me with you, please! I don't want to be here anymore!" Tenten blinked and then crouched and hugged the teary eyed little girl close, "Alright, you can come too."

==An Hour Later==

 _Menma_

My hair stood on end as the angry Jonin stormed down the street. Literally, he was storming. Lightning was flickering around him and wind was howling up and down the street like he was walking in his own personal thunderstorm. A few Hyuga guards attempted to stop him as he entered the Hyuga compound and he blew them out of his way with a wave of his hand and a furiously bellowed, " _OUT OF MY WAY!_ "

His personal whirlwind smashed down the front gate to Hinata's family's mansion, by no means a small or flimsy gate, and he stormed inside. Hinata was out on her balcony and most of the Hyuga district was leaning out their windows and doors to see what was happening. I Body Flickered down and landed on the railing next to her, too stunned and concerned by what was happening to be flustered, "Um, Hinata, any idea what's happening?" Her eyes were wide and her grip on the railing was white knuckled tight as she heard the Jonin start bellowing and things started crashing. I heard what he was saying and my fur stood on end and started rippling with horror and outrage as the import of his words hit me and Hinata smiled grimly, shaking a little with delight as she answered me quietly, "Retribution."

 _Kabuto_

I stared at the bloody splatter that had been Hiashi Hyuga, my face still twisted in rage as I spat on it, "Good riddance." I stormed out and unsurprisingly found Minato waiting for me at the demolished front gate. Minato asked me what had happened. I told him what I had learned from my medical examination of Hanabi. His expression of horror was approximately equal to the one I had worn, maybe greater. He had a daughter, it was that little extra bit more horrible for him. Then he took a deep breath and patted me on the shoulder, "You made it too quick Kabuto. You should've made him suffer." "Don't worry," I replied, "If there's any justice at all in the world, he's in Hell." Minato nodded, "Good. Go see what you can do for Hanabi and Neji. I'll take care of things here." I nodded and Body Flickered away, my patients needed me.


	7. Chapter 6: The Graduation Exams Pt3

Chapter 6-The Graduation Exams Part 3

==The Next Day==

 _Sasuke_

I sat down to breakfast and noticed Dad looking rather thoughtful. I looked at him as I started eating and said around a mouthful of egg, "Good news or bad news?" He sat back and looked at the ceiling, "Bad and slightly good. The bad news is it turns out Hiashi Hyuga has been doing horrible things to his nephew and daughter and using the Hyuga clan's Birdcage Seal to force Hinata Hanabi and Neji to keep quiet about what he's been doing to them. You alright?" I had nearly blasted eggs everywhere in shock. I managed to force them down and not explode, " _WHAT?!"_ He told me and my eye twitched a little in horrified shock. Mom looked horrified as well, so I guess this was the first he'd told her about it too. I stood up with a forced smile and my hand went to my knife, "Okay, where is he? I'm gonna go kill him now."

"Too late," Dad told me, "Kabuto Yakushi was the one who found out and he blasted Hiashi into a bloody stain on the wall. Every Jonin in the village and the entire Hyuga Clan are in an absolute uproar about it. I think "scandal of the century" sums it up pretty well." I sat back down, "Good for Kabuto. Hope that bastard burns in Hell." "No swearing at the table," Mom told me half heartedly, but I knew she echoed the sentiment.

Dad nodded as he sat forward to continue eating, "The good news is that this incident will probably get that seal of theirs rendered illegal so this sort of thing can never happen. The Odayakana family has taken in Neji, and the girls will probably be moving in with Lord Hokage's family." "Menma's gonna love that," I said. Dad looked at me, "Why?" "He's got a crush on Hinata bigger than Xing. She likes him too." Mom and Dad blinked and then a thought visibly crossed Dad's mind, just as a distant "Whooooooooo!" echoed across the village.

Dad turned and looked in the direction of the Namikaze's house and then turned back to the table with a stunned expression on his face and then he started laughing. I thought for a moment, "Was that Menma?" Dad nodded, "I think so." "What's he so excited about?" Mom asked. "I think Hiashi and Lord Hokage were arranging Menma and Hinata's betrothal last night," Dad said. We stared and he raised a finger, "But don't go spreading that around, it's just a hunch." I looked at my eggs and started laughing, "No I think that may be exactly what happened." Dad looked at me, "Why?"

I looked at him, "Well you know I send shadow clones prowling as cats at night right?" Dad nodded, "Yes, did you see something?" I grinned, "Weeell...I kinda stumbled onto the fact that Menma and Hinata have been seeing each other at least recently and possibly for a while now, so it wouldn't surprise me if their parents had been quietly aware of that, and it is a very sensible move politically speaking. Menma was in the Hyuga Compound to see Hinata last night, so he was probably the one that offered the invite to Hinata and Hanabi to come stay with their family, and that's the only thing I can think of that would make him cheer so loud we'd be able to hear him from here. We still probably ought to keep this little hunch to ourselves until it's officially announced, but I wouldn't be surprised if we heard about that soon." Dad nodded, "Yep." Then he smacked the table lightly and pointed at me, "Your Sharingan went active yesterday and you didn't tell us?!"

I blinked, "It did?" Then I thought about my fight with Guy and gasped, "It did..." I thrust my fists into the air laughing, "My Sharingan went active!" Dad high fived me and then he continued, "Kabuto says you've pulled off wind and earth release?" My eye twitched, _G****** blabbermouth..._ "You never asked." I grabbed a roll and tossed it, as it fell I swiped my fingers through it, slicing it cleanly into five pieces. "I can't do much more than that, but yeah, I can coat my body in wind blades. I've been considering how to integrate it with my Fire Fist, and on the Earth Release, about all I can do is harden my chakra and shake things with it. I'm going to work on it, but you know I like to have a little more progress made on a thing before I admit to having it."

Dad nodded, "Alright, would you like some help?" I shook my head, "Not today, I want to devote my energy to the rest of these exams." I smiled, "Don't worry, there'll be time afterwards." _Hope I didn't just jinx the crap out of us all..._

==Forty Five Minutes Later==

Judging by the happily dazed expression on Menma's face, I'd guess we were right about what Lord Hokage had cooked up regarding him and Hinata. Before I could ask we were being assigned to our various instructors. The class had thinned out considerably over the past three days. Out of forty one students, only eleven were left. Three of the ten instructors that had been here the first day weren't here today.

I was assigned to Kabuto, so I briefly considered taking the day off since he'd told me I could, but then I heard Iruka-sensei assign Sakura and Menma to him too. Given the team I'd have gotten if this were canon Naru-verse and a possible chance to see Sakura topless again, I thought, _No way I'm missing that..._ So half an hour later we were all three sitting at the hospital in an examination room. I was on the counter, Menma was on the examination table, and Sakura was in the spare chair. Kabuto nodded as he closed the door, "alright, Menma, you're on the table, you're first. Shirt off so I can check your vitals."

Menma ditched his jacket and pulled his shirt over his head. Kabuto laid his hands on his back and they glowed, "Hmm...very interesting. You have very little chakra for someone with your lineage, not enough to be below average, but much less than I would've expected. You are efficient with it though, so you've managed to make it go much further than most would have been able to." He moved his hands around, "All your vitals seem to be healthy, you appear to be in good shape, and I can't see any outstanding personality flaws that might hinder you as a shinobi. Very good. Next."

Menma looked over his shoulder in confusion, "That's it?" Kabuto smiled, "That's it." Menma gathered his clothes and slid off the table, "That was fast. Can I go now?" "You can," Kabuto replied with a smile. "I'd stick around in case Sakura ditches her top," I said cheerfully. Sakura squeaked indignantly and Menma shrugged as he threw his jacket over his shoulder, "Who cares? I've got Hinata." I grinned, "Hah! So that _is_ what you were cheering about this morning!" Menma grinned proudly, "Yep. I am the happiest man alive." "Well go have some fun," I told him, "I'll enjoy the show here for ya, you enjoy that for me." "Sure thing."

Out he went and I turned my attention to Sakura who was glaring at me with a most unamused expression, "'Stick around in case Sakura ditches her top?'" She asked me rather acidly. I shrugged, "What? You're cute! I'd love to see you topless!" She sniffed and climbed onto the examination table angling herself pointedly away from me before ditching her top and covering herself. I think my nose might've started bleeding, _Holy crap no bra..._

Then Kabuto reached out and flicked her right in the center of the back. She yelped in surprise and leapt off the table in a small explosion of white chakra smoke, turning to look at him indignantly and narrowly managing to keep herself covered. I blinked as Kabuto told her bluntly, "No transformations during your physical." She growled and sat back down on the examination table as I tried to restart my brain in wake of Sakura's real appearance.

She looks nothing like the Sakura we know! Her hair's not long or pink! It's an adorable short cut mousy brown! Her eyes aren't pale green, they're a smoldery golden hazel! Flat chested? Not in the slightest! And forget the slight plainness that had characterized her features the whole time I had known her, she's drop dead gorgeous! I keep forgetting how screwy this world is compared to what I know, it's little moments like those that remind me that Toto, we ain't in Kansas anymore.

I grabbed a tissue from the box on the counter next to me and wiped my nose as I felt the blood pouring (the nosebleeds are a real nuisance that have absolutely plagued me since arriving in this dimension), "Whoa..." Sakura snorted over her shoulder at me and looked away with a pout that was unwittingly cute and showed off her profile. Kabuto didn't even have to look before reaching behind him, sticking a glowing finger to the tip of my nose and stopping the bleeding. "Thanks doc." "Stop making my patient uncomfortable," he scolded lightly. I covered my eyes, "Sorry Sakura. Can I say that you're much prettier without the transformation?" "No," she replied irritably, "Forget you ever saw me like this. I keep this face reserved for the man I love."

I feel most certain a question mark formed over my head, _Sakura's not a Sasuke fangirl? What?!_ "And who's the lucky guy?" "None of your business!" she snapped. _Wow, complete 180 from canon..._ I thought, _This merits further investigation._ Kabuto sighed, "Sasuke, step outside, she's not going to settle down as long as you're here." "Ok," I stepped outside. I paused on my way out, "Hey, is Neji okay?" "He's in room 127. First floor west wing." "Thanks, see ya around Sakura." "Goodbye," Sakura said with a hint of chill in her voice.

Out I went.

==Two Hours Later==

 _Rock Lee_

It is not often that someone gets the drop on me. It is even rarer for someone to be able to reach out of a bush, grab me and drag me into it. It is rarer still for a young woman with bright pink hair and perfume to do these things to yank me into a kiss, in a bush. A _rose_ bush I noted as a large number of thorns stuck into me. She let me out of the kiss a moment later, "Hi Lee." Then she kissed me again. It took me a moment to break off the kiss, "Sakura!" "You know it!" Then she was kissing me again. _Don't give in don't give in don't give in..._ I managed to shove us away from each other and stumble out of the bush backwards. Another rarity, I actually tripped and fell in my hurry to get out of the bush.

Sakura pouted out of the bush at me, "Aw, what's the matter? Don't like the new perfume?" I picked myself up, "No it is not that. It is a very nice perfume. However I must tell you what I have been meaning to for months. My heart lies firmly elsewhere, so I am afraid we cannot continue this relationship as we have been. I thank you for your time and affections. I am sorry we cannot continue like this and I hope you find somebody more worthy of your affections. Goodbye." I Body Flickered away and landed in a tree, my heart hammering.

"Nicely done," Kakashi-sensei told me from the branch next to mine. I looked behind me at my bottom, which had caught quite a few thorns on my way out of the bush, "Thank you Kakashi-sensei, I just wish she had chosen a less thorny bush." Kakashi-sensei shrugged with a smile, "At least you finally broke up with her." I nodded, "Her addictive loving shall never have a hold on my mind again." Kakashi-sensei smiled as he rose from his perch, "I'm sure Kurenai will be happy to hear that. Let's go, Tenten will get cranky if we take too long and Neji will be wanting his first meal as a free man." I nodded, "Right." We Body Flickered away and I tried to put the heart wrenching sound of Sakura's crying in that rose bush out of my mind.

==Half an Hour Later==

 _Sasuke_

I paused as I walked past the suddenly silent rose bush, "You know I wouldn't have spotted you if you hadn't stopped. The echo on this street was playing havoc with my ability to hear where you were." I reached into the rose bush and extracted Sakura gently before setting her on her shaky feet, "Are you alright?" She shook her head and her voice cracked, "No." Then she was hugging me and sobbing again. I wrapped her in a hug, exhaled slowly and tried to sync her chakra to mine. Hers was so erratic and upset it almost disrupted mine. Almost.

I stroked her hair, "Shh...breathe Sakura, breathe." She took a few shaky, shallow, hiccupping breaths and I was finally able to seize on that little instant of her self control and use it to force the wrinkles in her chakra back flat. She shook a little as I forced her heart rate to slow down and stabilize and her mind to clear, "What are you doing?" "Calming you down," I told her quietly, "I can't help you if you're too upset to tell me what's wrong."

I finally got her breathing and pulse back to steady, "So, why so sad Sakura?" She sniffled, "Boyfriend dumped me." Her chakra bucked at the thought and she almost broke down again, but I narrowly managed to reign her body's impulses in. "He's an idiot then," I told her quietly, "Come on. Don't let a little thing like one guy wanting someone else wreck you." She gave me the _freakin puppy dog eyes!_ "But he was my..." She didn't have to finish, her chakra told me what she meant. I sighed irritably, "And you think that's worth getting bent out of shape about?" She frowned at me, "Yeah. It's not exactly just some little thing!"

"It's smaller than you think," I replied calmly, "Think about it. What have you lost? A little time? Some emotional investment? The ability to tell your future husband he's the first? Those things are all small, and if a guy really loves you then he won't care if he's your first or your thousandth, he should love you regardless of your past. The past is important Sakura, we learn from it, we don't let it rule us or our future will escape us. You get me?"

She nodded and I hugged her a little tighter, "Now come on. There's still plenty of day left to make it a good one." And off we went.


	8. Chapter 7: The Graduation Exams Pt4

Chapter 7-The Graduation Exams Part 4

==The Next Day==

Graduation Exams day 5. Kiba and I got paired with Asuma. Asuma is well known as the most mischievous of any Leaf nin, so I was a little apprehensive about his test. Kiba and I walked behind him for a while after the assignment and then he paused and looked over his shoulder at us, "How are you two at climbing?" I can't vouch for Kiba, but I know I went _Oh no..._ He had us painting the Hokage Monument with graffiti by noon. I had to use a genjutsu on myself to keep from freaking out. I'm not scared of heights, and I'm not scared of long straight drops that you can't possibly pull out of, it's that splat at the end that worries me.

After Minato came and personally chased us off, Asuma told us we had passed the first part of his test, willingness to follow orders and he was giving us extra credit for creativity with the graffiti. Then he cheerfully told us that part two was escape training, we had five minutes to run. If we could keep him from catching us until sundown we passed. If not he'd hogtie us and we'd have to get loose before sundown or we'd fail. Then he told us "Four minutes and thirty seconds." What I did next I can only describe as "ran like hell". Asuma's not only the biggest troll in Hidden Leaf, he's also one of, if not _the_ best tracker.

I lost track of Kiba immediately. I wasn't really trying to keep track of him. Five and a half hours to avoid getting caught by one of the village's best capture and retrieval specialists. He's an even mix of Inuzuka Hyuga Uzumaki and Sarutobi, he's got at least one way to sense chakra because the Inuzuka can smell chakra like anything else, potentially two if his eyes maintained any of the Byakugan's abilities, maybe a third if he's an Uzumaki sensor, or potentially even a fourth if the Sarutobi family has some sort of extra up their sleeves. You can roll in mud, take a bath, wallow in a pigsty and hide under a burning fire pit, but you can't hide your chakra from those who can sense it. On top of that, Asuma knows clone jutsu too, so laying false trails with clones of your own is probably a fruitless endeavor. Long story short? He's damn near impossible to throw off a trail and fast to boot.

Hell if I wasn't gonna make him work for it though. I raced through the streets, ducking and weaving between people as quickly as I could until I reached a clear spot in the crowd and jumped. I dropped four shadow clones mid leap. One went left, one went right, one went straight and one caught hold of a power line and flipped up onto it before transforming into a cat and running off at an angle in the direction I'd just come from. The original transformed into a raven and took off flying.

I flew as high as I could before splitting two more clones off and flying in convoluted aerial patterns before splitting apart and flying for different areas of the village. That way even if Asuma did figure out that I had turned into a bird and was able to tell which trails were left by my shadow clones at the point of split off, he'd have to be able to distinguish them after that too if he wanted to know which raven was the real me. I swooped home and landed in the garden before turning back into myself and poking my head in, "Hey mom, I'm probably going to be a little after sundown getting in this evening. Escape and evasion exam." She called, "Okay, be careful!" I told her I would and after sending a shadow clone bounding away I turned into a snake and slithered down a hole I had made years ago.

The hole was my usual entrance to a network of tunnels my shadow clones had excavated that led all over the village. I was feeling quite smug until Asuma's fist collapsed the tunnel in front of me about 15 minutes later. He pulled it out and as I raced down the tunnel as fast as my slithery body could carry me, I was overtaken by a torrent of stench that I knew all too well: _gunpowder_. _"SHIT!"_ I exclaimed as I erupted out of the ground and some unfortunate restaurant's floor. I ran out the back as fast as I could and yelled "Sorry!" over my shoulder, just in time to get clothes lined by Asuma. Before I knew what had happened Asuma had me tied up. I transformed back into a snake and then into a tiger. The sudden expansion knocked Asuma down and bought me just enough time to spring away and then the chase was on as I turned back into myself. I ran as fast as I could.

Asuma was still faster. He caught me in a net that time and I turned into a mouse and escaped. Then he caught me in a jar. I turned into myself and exploded out of the jar before running again. Even though I was running as fast as I could, Asuma was loping alongside me effortlessly. "You do realize you can fight back right?" Asuma called and I immediately slammed on the breaks, " _Why didn't you say so?!"_ I used my momentum to torque a vicious kick towards his head. He of course casually caught it and slung me down the street. I turned into a pangolin and curled into a ball. I rolled I'm not sure how far and then whirled back into myself, just in time to catch Asuma's fist in the nose.

That knocked me flying, but I somersaulted backwards and back to my feet. This time I came up with my hands up and actually caught his next punch. It still knocked me back and the kick following it nearly floored me, but then my left jab connected with his groin. I didn't give him time to collapse, I caught his leg and slung him. Then I jumped and met his Hiding In Ash jutsu with a Fireball Jutsu. The resulting explosion was quite spectacular and because I was already airborne was more than a plenty to catapult me down the street.

As I flew through the air my Sharingan activated. This time I was able to recognize it for what it was and quickly cast my eyes about for something I could use to my advantage. Thankfully the street had emptied quite quickly, there wouldn't be any civilians in my way. Then my eyes lit on a figure being booted from an alley and I realized as I landed that it was Kiba. I twisted and managed to alter my momentum enough to Body Flicker and catch him. He did not look good. I could only guess he had tried to fight sooner and had not much, if any luck.

The second Asuma was, like everything else, moving in that bizarre slow but not motion. As he realized my Sharingan was active, I saw his eyes widen. Then my right hook connected with his nose. I had just an instant of satisfaction as the shadow clone shattered and then the real Asuma's foot connected with my head hard enough to nearly knock me over. I staggered a little under Kiba's weight before trying to fight Asuma one handed. I did alright, the Sharingan slow-mo allowed me to block most of his shots despite my handicap, but I know that was only because he was injured from where our jutsu had collided earlier.

What felt like an eternity passed before Kiba woke up and got off me so I could fight properly. The instant his weight shifted back onto his feet instead of my shoulder I retracted my arm from where I was holding him up and launched a shot of my Fire Fist into Asuma's guard. That startled him into springing back, just in time for Kiba to take off like a shot whirling into a Tunneling Fang. Kiba only grazed him, but he did it hard enough to knock Asuma reeling, and that was all I needed to trip his feet from under him. Before he had even hit the ground I was leaping on top of him, my hands bursting into flame as I jabbed them towards his eyes.

I almost got him too! Then he kneed me in the ass and launched me flying over his head. I didn't even look as I shot a blazing back kick out behind me at his head like a horse. I didn't feel it connect so I twisted and spun, lashing out with the strongest burst of fire I could swing out of a kick. I was promptly blown back as a monstrous wind erupted from nowhere. I didn't quite go through the wall it knocked me into, but I'm certain it shook a little. That or my brain did.

I landed upside down because I had been on the verge of doing a handstand when I launched my spin kick. As I blinked the stars from my eyes I had a pretty good little _dammit_ moment as I saw it was Minato. Minato looked around at the three of us with a decidedly unamused expression, and then at Asuma, "Asuma, what have I told you about brawling in the streets?" Asuma pushed himself upright, "Escape and evasion test, it's not my fault they ran into town!" Minato frowned irritably and I could tell he was trying not to blow his top, "You had an entire training area assigned to you for this test." Asuma blinked in confusion and as I rolled upright, "I did?"

Minato's face twitched and as my Sharingan registered his chakra fluctuating with anger I turned into a cat to hide at the first opportunity, "Be in my office at five o'clock." He told Asuma in a voice that clearly meant, _"You are in for a world class ass chewing, miss it and you're fired."_ "Yessir," Asuma replied sounding for all the world like a petulant child, "Can I finish testing them?" Minato looked at us, "How long have you been chasing them?" "Since about ten minutes after you chased us off the monument," Asuma replied nonchalantly as though the thought of reminding Minato that he had been pissed off about that too wasn't going to make him angrier. "You've been chasing them for over an hour," Minato replied, "I think that's plenty of evasion skill for a genin. Lord Danzo's been watching and agrees that they have more than sufficient skill to pass. Besides, your attention span is only an hour and a half maximum. You would've quit and gone to stuff your face in fifteen minutes, just like you have every day this week."

Asuma thought about arguing, thought better of it and then, "Maybe." Minato sighed, clearly trying to reign his temper in, "Asuma, just, go, somewhere. Surely there's a bounty that you need to be chasing." "What about the three I was supposed to test tomorrow?" " _I'll_ test them," Minato declared, "Now go, somewhere. You're not off the hook so don't go thinking you can skip out just because I told you to go find a bounty to chase." Asuma pushed himself to his feet and strolled off.

Minato face palmed in irritation and then turned to us, "You two are done today, Sasuke Lord Third wants to see you, report to his manor immediately." I felt unease churn in my gut, _aw crap..._

==Half an Hour Later==

I strode in, the ANBU guards at the gate nodding as I passed between them. I always get nervous around Danzo because I know what he was like in canon. Even more than that, I remember what he did to me in this life too. Danzo was waiting for me in the entrance hall, "Sasuke, welcome." I bowed my head slightly, "Thank you Lord Third. I was told you wanted to see me?" Danzo nodded, "Yes I wanted to talk to you. Follow me please."

He led me into the living room and sat next to a large fire pit in the center of the room, gesturing for me to sit as well. I sat across from him and he started, "I trust you know why I called you?" My expression soured slightly, "If the paranoid voice in the back of my mind saying you're going to be messing around in my head again is right then I really hope you've refined your technique." Danzo smiled slightly, it was a very mild rebuke considering what he had done last time he went rattling around in my head, "No, I won't be repeating that mistake."

I breathed a sigh of relief and then frowned again as he added, "But I would like to talk to all of you." My face twisted with displeasure, "Yes sir." I summoned three shadow clones which made hand signs in unison, "Seal of the Four Gates, release!" They each said one of East, West and South with corresponding hand signs, and then my clones all hissed in pain as their minds changed.

A moment later my shadow clones transformed and their breathing was very heavy as the white chakra smoke from the transformations cleared. An old man with long hair and red eyes, a middle aged man with hazel eyes and a reddish beard beneath his messy dark hair and a shockingly beautiful young woman with long coal black hair and green eyes sat around the fire pit. Madara, my old self, who we call Shinrai now because that's the closest meaning equivalent we could come up with to my old name, and the fourth person in my head, the split personality that formed years ago when Danzo splintered my mind, the collective other half of the first three, Suki.

None of us were pleased at being summoned all at once. Switching control of our primary body was easy, a simple genjutsu allowed us to switch at will. Combining all four of us back into one after a split like this though, that was horribly exhausting and difficult because it resulted in the memories of four different minds collapsing in on each other. Makes for a horribly muddled memory if the partitions between our minds aren't maintained. As long as we all return to the same personality before we merge we're fine, but if one of the clones breaks with one of my latent three in control, geez what a headache.

He had been trying to figure out who I was and in the process accidentally dragged Madara's mind out of my subconscious, split my old personality away from what became my current self, and triggered an accidental split that resulted in Suki who we've about decided was the manifestation of our collective subconscious desires since we all agree she's awesome and gorgeous. Thus far Danzo's the only who's found out about us, but we suspect he's told Minato.

Madara spoke first, "What do you want Danzo?" Madara doesn't like being dragged out of the afterlife. He'll give advice on rare occasion, take control if it's an absolute emergency and we need his strength, but other than that he stays in the afterlife. We were glad to have him this time though; being the First Hokage, he doesn't have to be polite to the Third. Danzo bowed slightly, "I wished to speak with the four of you about your upcoming return to the field. I hope I have not inconvenienced you too much." Madara snorted, "I was in the middle of a game of Shogi with Hashirama." Danzo winced, he knew how much Madara loved matching wits with Hashirama, "Oh, I'm sorry. You can go back if you'd like." Madara rolled his eyes irritably, "You've already dragged me back here, we might as well talk."

"Who will we be working under?" Shinrai asked. Danzo looked at him, "Kabuto Yakushi has requested you serve on his team so that he can keep an eye on you. Lord Fourth granted his request, so you will be serving on his team." Shinrai hissed, "He's one of the one's most likely to find out about us! He already sensed mine and Suki's chakra natures when he was examining us! If our minds weren't so separate he would've found us then and there! He's a blabber mouth too! He told Fugaku about us having wind and earth chakra, and he all but told Kiba and Shikamaru about Madara!" Danzo frowned, "Actually he told all the Jonin about the wind and earth chakra, and I still don't understand your reluctance to let anyone know about the four of you."

"Really?" Shinrai asked irritably, "You don't get it? Suki, spell it out for the man." Suki sat forward, "Lord Third, think about it. We're not just one teenage kid, we're a teenage kid, his middle aged past self, one of the founders of the village who is in his eighties, and the female doppelganger of the teenage kid. Lord Fourth would never let Sasuke see Naruko if he knew about us. Naruko probably wouldn't even want to see him if she knew about the rest of us! Who would?! We need a way to make bodies for ourselves so that we can stop being four in one and just be four! We'd never be accepted if people knew about us!"

"We are stronger for our combined presence," she continued softly, "But the price of our secret strength being found out would be too high. Can you imagine Mom and Dad's reaction if they found out that their sweet baby boy had possessed the mind of a grown man from the minute he was born? Or that he's got three extra personalities that they've never met, one of which is older than they are, another nearly the same age and the third one's a girl? Can you imagine Ruko's reaction? Or anybody's? Remember that you were expecting to find something when you examined Shinrai and created Sasuke and me. Anybody else would be utterly blindsided by our real nature and it would destroy any trust they had in us."

"I still trust you," Danzo pointed out. I snorted, "Yeah, but you're not Ruko. Or Mom, or Dad, or Itachi. With all due respect Lord Third, those are the people whose opinions matter to me. Compared to them, your opinion of me is nothing." Danzo nodded, "I see. So your first priority is not for your own safety but for the peace of mind of your loved ones." We all nodded, "Aye." "My life is nothing to me," Shinrai said quietly as he tucked his knees under his chin and stared into the embers, "I lost my entire world when I came here. My family, the few friends I had, everything I ever knew, all out the window instantly. I don't care if I live or die, nobody except the people in this room even know I exist. The only mark I can make on history will be his," he jerked his head towards me, "and attributed to him," he jerked his head towards Madara.

He grinned a sad grin with another sigh, "My only reason for existence now is the next thrill. Sasuke knows everything I do, he doesn't need me. I don't know why I'm still here." He sighed, "It's damn lonely, not existing. Even lonelier than I was in my world." He snorted and stood, "I'm going to go get some air." He turned and froze. A moment later he whispered in horror, "Danzo Shimura you son of a bitch..."

The rest of us whirled and saw Ruko, Mom, Dad, Minato, Kabuto, Anko, Kakashi, Rin, and Obito. All of them were staring at us, just as stunned as we were. Shinrai stepped back and I was acutely aware of the strange slow but not motion that meant my Sharingan had activated, Madara and Shinrai and Suki's were too. So was Dad's. The tension was so thick that I can't even think of a good metaphor for it.


	9. Chapter 8: New Beginnings

=Chapter 8: New Beginnings=

==Meanwhile==

Asuma leaned on the Mission Assignment desk, "So that's what happened. Got anything for me Mizuki?" Mizuki thought for a moment, then he grinned, "As a matter of fact, we just received a very important contract. An assassination." Asuma raised an eyebrow, "Who is it?" Mizuki grinned, "When I tell you how much they're paying you won't care." Asuma straightened up, crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow, "That must be some wild bounty." Mizuki leaned forward and beckoned Asuma closer, "Five hundred _million_ for the head of the samurai Isshin Matoi."

Asuma snapped upright as his eyebrows shot behind his headband, "You're kidding. The Tsuchikage's not worth that much!" Mizuki pulled a paper out of his desk drawer and handed it to Asuma, "Check out the seal." Asuma looked and whistled quietly, "The Kiryuuin Clan...and they came to us for this?" Mizuki shook his head, "Not just us, the messenger said word had been sent to Mist, Rain, Sand, Stone and Cloud as well. They didn't send anyone to Grass because he's apparently become a very prominent patron of theirs recently." Asuma looked at the paper more closely, "Who is this guy that someone like Ragyo Kiryuuin would order such a huge hit on him?"

Mizuki sat back and shrugged, "Some new minor samurai lord from up in the Land of Grass. Hasn't been around long, and intel says he only has three samurai under him." "Anyone to be concerned about?" "Two of them are nobodies with no real prestige to their name, I've never heard of either of them, that should tell you something. The third one's the bugger though, get this, he's the younger brother of Mifune Subete." Asuma looked up, "Mifune Subete as in the crown prince's bodyguard, Infinite One Sword Style, known-for-cutting-down-over-a-hundred men-all-on-his-own-in-a-single-battle, took down rogue Stone-nin Whitestar, _that_ Mifune Subete?" Mizuki nodded, "That's the one." Asuma cast a wary glance at the order for Isshin Matoi's death, "Is this brother Matoi's got working for him as good as Mifune?"

Mizuki sat forward, "He hasn't really made a name for himself yet, but I wouldn't bank on him being any less dangerous than Mifune. I haven't heard about him using his brother's Infinite One Sword Style, or having a style of his own yet, but you know as well as I do that even an ordinary samurai is dangerous, especially if he's in the same league as Mifune. If you take this one, you're going to need to take some serious help with you, and you'll need to do it fast. You can bet the other villages will jump on this."

Asuma nodded, "I'll go get the team." Mizuki shook his head, "No you won't. They're on a mission to the Land of Waves." Asuma stared at him, "All three of them?! What's the job?!" Mizuki looked around, and after confirming that they were alone, he extracted a mission order from his desk, "You didn't hear it from me." Asuma's eyes widened, "They're going after _those two?!_ " Mizuki nodded, "Yep, and intel says Hidden Rain's sent a squad after the same bounty. Three genin and a Jonin." Asuma looked at him, "Who did they send?" "Brace yourself, you're not gonna like this," Mizuki warned. He took a deep breath, "Reports from our spies say it's Hattori Hanzo and three of his students." Asuma's eye twitched, "Gods help them, why didn't they take me with them..."

"They've been gone for a week," Mizuki replied, "the report about Hanzo being on the same trail didn't come in until yesterday. Have some faith in the training you gave them Asuma." Asuma pulled out and lit a cigarette, "I've got plenty of faith in them, but you were with me in the Garden District, you know what a monster Hanzo is." Mizuki nodded as he tucked the report away back into its drawer, "Yeah. Hopefully though he'll be able to draw their attention away from your team." Asuma nodded, "Yeah, maybe." Then he grinned, "Guess it's time to go round up some old friends!" Mizuki grinned, "Surely you're including me in that." Asuma laughed, "You know it! It's time for Squad Five to take its biggest bounty ever!"

==Meanwhile==

Neji lay in bed breathing slow and evenly. It was the first time he'd been alone since Hiashi's death. There had constantly been at least one person, usually more than one by his bedside. Lady Tenten, Kakashi sensei, Lee, Hinata, Hanabi, Kabuto sensei or another of the doctors, and surely over half the village had been through to check on him by now. There was always someone alert and watching by his bedside. It was nice, he thought. Nice to have so many people care about what happened to him. Also nice to have some quiet though, he thought.

Suddenly he heard the door open. He looked towards the door, he could only shift his eyes, the last activation of the Birdcage Seal had hit his nervous system so severely that even two days later he still couldn't move without pain. This had admittedly led to Tenten feeding him, which he had to admit he didn't mind at all. Now she was sitting down next to him, "Neji?" she asked quietly. "Yes Lady Tenten?" Neji replied.

"We need to talk," Tenten said softly, "About what happened that night." Neji looked at the ceiling, "Of course Lady Tenten. What do you wish to know?" "I declared you my servant, to get you out from under that monster's thumb," Tenten said tentatively, clenching her fists, "Nobody but Kakashi, Lee and Hanabi know, but I did." "I see," Neji replied flatly. Tears tried to well in Tenten's eyes, "We can leave it alone and pretend it never happened. I don't want to make you a slave, especially not after you've just come out of, _that._ " Neji's blankets shifted and Tenten raised her eyes, "What, what are you doing?! You shouldn't be getting up!"

Neji forced himself to his feet even though it made his breathing ragged with pain, if moving was bad, standing was hell. Stand he did though. He rose and walked around the foot of the bed. Tenten leapt up to catch him as he started to go down, and then she realized he was kneeling. Her eyes widened, "Neji...what are you..." Neji bowed his head, "Lady Tenten of House Odayakana, shaman of the Order of the Fox, I owe you my life. If you will have me, I will be your humble servant, my life shall be at your disposal, your wish my command. You have earned my loyalty and my respect. My heart could ask for no greater a master, nor would I if I could."

Out in the hallway Lee and Kakashi exchanged stunned glances, each knowing what the other was thinking, _No...way..._ Then a single stunned little chuckle escaped Tenten, "I dub you the White-Eye, my guardian and protector, my all seeing eye in the darkness and the blade by which my enemies shall fall. Rise, Neji White-Eye, samurai of the Odayakana clan." "Thank you Lady Tenten." There was a concerted thud as Kakashi and Lee fainted in shocked unison.

==Later That Afternoon==

"I still can't believe everyone's taken this so well," Sasuke told Ruko as they strolled. Ruko grinned, "Well, it makes me feel better to know I've been fighting the first Hokage. I don't feel nearly so bad about losing to you all the time now." She suddenly looked over her shoulder and put a hand in her pocket. A moment later she grinned, "Something else I like is that now Daddy's not so paranoid about us being together because he knows you're actually my age and not some old pervert."

Sasuke snorted with laughter, "Shinrai is a pervert, but he likes women his own age." Ruko nudged him with an elbow and a playful grin, "and are _you_ a pervert Sasuke?" Sasuke was immediately red as a radish, "Um..." Ruko's smile grew, "And are you a pervert for me?" Sasuke's head snapped around to look at her and then she laughed and grabbed him by the lapels, " _Knew it!_ " She suddenly yanked him into an alley and a kiss. When they came up for air Sasuke asked, "What about your dad?" Ruko winked as she pulled him further down the alley and around a corner, "I checked already, he's not watching. So hurry up and let's have some fun before he looks."

==Half an Hour Later==

Teuchi raised an eyebrow as Ruko and Sasuke sat down quite disheveled, "You two look rough. Tests being hard on you?" Ruko and Sasuke both blushed. "You could say that," Ruko replied with a smile. Teuchi's gaze flickered between them and then he grinned a knowing grin and pointed at Sasuke, "You be good to my favorite customer you hear?" Sasuke and Ruko both blushed even redder, "Yessir, that is most certainly the plan." Ruko smiled and kissed him on the cheek.

"That's good," Minato said with a forced smile from next to Ruko as he reached over her and laid a hand on Sasuke's shoulder, "Because if you ever hurt my baby girl, I'm going to kill you. In the most painful fashion Ibiki Morino can come up with." Sasuke and Ruko were both instantly as pale as ghosts and Teuchi had to try his very hardest not to laugh as he put another dish of ramen on. "Do I hear a thank you for keeping him from interrupting?" Kushina asked from next to Sasuke with a sly smile. "Thank you Lady Kushina," Sasuke replied immediately, "Mr. Teuchi, another bowl please."

"Make it three," Menma added with a grin as he and Hinata popped up next to Minato. "Four," Hanabi added as she popped up next to Hinata. "Five," Menma's mother Miso added from next to Hanabi. "Six!" Asuma declared happily as he plopped into a seat next to Kushina. Everyone looked at him, "Where did you come from?" Asuma pointed with a grin, "Over there." Sasuke's expression sank not so slightly, "This is gettin' expensive," he muttered.

"Make it nine," Shinrai declared as he and Anko sat down, "Sasuke I already checked we've got enough." Sasuke looked around Kushina and Asuma with a small smile and wave, "Thanks bro." Teuchi looked over his shoulder and frowned, "So I'm making eleven bowls?" "Twelve," Shinrai corrected, "I eat enough for two." Anko nudged him, "I thought the extra one was for me?" Shinrai looked at her, "Sorry, didn't realize you wanted two. Better make it thirteen Mr. Teuchi."

==Meanwhile==

Minato's shadow clone sat behind his desk using his crystal ball to watch the scenes at Ichiraku and the Uchiha house where Fugaku and Mikoto were getting to know Sasuke's split personalities, "Strange that everyone's taken this so well in stride." Anko shrugged, "They're shinobi, even if this totally threw everybody, I don't think anyone would be very shocked." "And he was swearing fluently fifteen minutes out of the womb. Not to mention using fire release before he was a full twenty four hours old," Kabuto added as he pushed his glasses back up his nose, "It's not really surprising that he's got memories from a past life. I'll admit the two spare personalities are a surprise, but even that only makes everything about him make more sense."

Minato looked at him, "Such as?" Kabuto sat back, "Fugaku claims Sasuke started his physical training at a very early age and displayed at least competence if not advanced skill in hand to hand and armed combat right from the start." "Shinrai was a martial artist in his past life," Anko added, "So that explains that." "He's also been reading extremely advanced literature ever since he was able to turn the pages himself." "Shinrai's also a scholar. Claims his specialty was psychology," Anko added, "From what he's told my shadow clone, just in the time since we found out about him, I think the only reason he wasn't at least a Chunin and more probably a Jonin is because they don't have shinobi where he's from."

"And where is he from?" Minato asked. Anko shrugged, "He won't say, but I think he's Amestrian. He speaks Amestrian like a native and when he transformed his wardrobe it looked like the stuff Amestrian traders wear. Seemed quite shocked when I started talking to him in Amestrian. It looked like a very happy shock, even when I couldn't keep up with him." She laid a hand on her cheek and grinned with a slight blush, "Poor thing I think he's got a crush on me!" "Wonder how long that'll last," Kabuto said with a grin. "Probably not past her appetite," Minato declared with a cheerful grin. Anko's blush went from a slight happy pink to a furious red, " _Excuse me?! He eats just as much as I do thank you!_ "

Kabuto and Minato both stared at her. "That is truly impressive," Kabuto said and then he had to dodge the volley of needles Anko threw at him.


	10. Chapter 9: The Graduation Exams Pt5

=Chapter 9-The Graduation Exams Part5=

==The Next Day==

 _Sasuke_

Day 6 of the Graduation Exams: Obito. My team: Sakura and Shikamaru. Obito led us out to one of the training grounds, set up a timer and turned to us holding two bells. Obito grinned, "The test is simple, all you have to do is get these two bells away from me. That's all there is to it. If you can't get them by the time this timer goes off at noon, I'll tie you to a tree and eat my lunch in front of you." "Why are there only two?" Sakura asked. Obito grinned, "Because there are three of you. Someone's going without lunch because they won't be able to take a bell from me, and that person will fail."

Sakura and Shikamaru flinched, but I grinned, I knew that trick. Obito smiled, "You all seem raring and ready to go, so get ready. And..." We all settled into fighting stances and then... "Begin!" Sakura pounced, Shikamaru activated his Shadow Possession jutsu, and I watched. Obito didn't even bother with his Kamui, he just sprang out of the way and let Sakura get caught in Shikamaru's Shadow Possession. He kicked Sakura square in the keester and sent her and Shikamaru both flying. Sakura's transformation flickered as she landed and she and Shikamaru both looked very irritated.

Obito looked at me, "Aren't you going to try?" I shrugged, "That Kamui is hard to beat." Obito grinned, "Don't worry about it. That would be just mean. I won't use my Sharingan if you don't use yours." I grinned, "Sounds good." I Body Flickered and swiped at him with a burning fist. He backed up and Sakura almost tripped him. He hopped over her sweep and right into Shikamaru's Shadow Possession. Obito's face twitched a bit in confusion and surprise, I could almost hear him think, _Did I just get beaten by three genin in less than five minutes?_

Sakura smiled, plucked one of the bells from his belt and tossed it to me. Then she grabbed the other one and tossed it to Shikamaru who released the Shadow Possession as he caught it. Obito looked deeply humiliated as he hung his head and pressed the stop button on the timer, "Three minutes and fifty seven seconds. You all pass. Have a good day." He picked up his timer and walked off.

I looked at Sakura and Shikamaru, then I called after him, "Uncle Obito! You want some ice cream?" Obito looked over his shoulder, "I'm about to go home and eat a gallon of it." Then he walked off. I looked at Sakura and Shikamaru, "I feel kinda terrible now." Shikamaru shrugged, "Your plan worked perfectly though." I nodded, "It did." Obito froze, "Plan?!"

He spun, "You three planned that?! HOW?!" We all shrank a little, "Well since every teacher does the same test for everybody we were able to cook up strategies for everyone in our group to win." Obito opened his mouth with a stunned expression, closed it, opened it back, closed it again. His eye twitched, "Was Naruko in on this?" I grinned, "Yeah. It was her idea." Obito sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "That explains a lot." He sighed again, "Ok. New test." We all flinched, "New test?"

Obito grinned evilly at us out the corner of his eye as he reset his timer, "Yeah. New test. You've got the bells, now you have to keep me from having them at the end of five minutes. Time starts now!" He Body Flickered, set the timer down and managed to launch all three of us in an instant. I felt my Sharingan go active and I was able to flip and skid a landing. I saw Obito toss the bells in his hand and then tie them back onto his belt before looking around with his own Sharingan to assess which of us was the biggest threat. I saw all that before I landed, then just as my feet were hitting the ground, Obito spun and disappeared.

An instant later his foot connected with the back of my head as he dropped a massive axe kick out of his teleport. Before I could even start to get up he jumped and was hurling Shikamaru across the clearing an instant later. Shinrai's voice echoed through my mind, _Sasuke, switch. Now. You don't stand a chance against his Kamui._ I nodded and made the sign, "Seal of the Four Gates Release!"

 _Shinrai_

"West!" I declared as I took over, "Transform!" I turned back into my old self and sprang at Obito, my Mangekyo wrenching open and allowing me to phase the wind blades I whipped into existence around me into the Kamui's dimension as I whirled into Tunneling Fang, "Tasmanian Devil!" Obito tried to go intangible and learned the hard way that I can use the Kamui too as my wind blades tore into him.

Obito's shock at losing the advantage he'd held for decades wouldn't slow him down long, so I didn't let up. I spun midair and landed horizontal on a tree before Body Flickering back at him as I lashed out with half a dozen massive wind blades, "Wolverine!" Obito's quick on the uptake, I have to give him that. He teleported that time and dodged my attack. I teleported too as he reappeared above me and launched a massive Dragon Flame jutsu at me. I reappeared by Sakura and Shikamaru and dropped the prize next to them before Body Flickering at Obito as he teleported back to the ground.

I almost got him with my Cyclone Drill (a gauntlet of whirling wind blades) but then he sprang aside and blew out another burst of flames, forcing me to teleport again to avoid getting roasted. I teleported behind him and almost got him in the back, but he teleported before I could get him and I had to teleport again to avoid flying right into the flames I had been trying to avoid. This time I teleported to high above the clearing where my Sharingan picked out the fainted ripple in the air as Obito started to reappear.

I spun into my teleport and lashed out with a blast of wind chakra as I whirled out of my teleport above where Obito had just appeared. My wind blast was enough to send him rocketing towards the ground. I teleported again before gravity even took hold and reappeared on the ground, spinning two Rasengans into existence and forcing them into the shape I preferred to use it in, twin javelins. Then I waited for Obito to land. As I had predicted, he teleported behind me, just in time to catch both of my Rasen-Javelins upside the head. One was in the Kamui world and one wasn't, so only one connected with him, but even that was enough to send him flying.

Before he could stop rolling I threw one of my Rasen-Javelins after him. As they always do, the javelin splintered a foot or two from my hand and became a storm of chakra needles. Obito managed to teleport out of the way and my chakra needles dissipated just in time for him to reappear behind me mid air and body slam me. I went intangible as I felt him connect and let him phase through me. He had adapted fast, but this was still the first time he'd ever been on the receiving end of that trick. I immediately punched him in the head, still intangible, so even though he went intangible as he landed in anticipation of my strike, I still connected because our intangibility phasing took us to the same dimension.

 _Kabuto_

I watched through Minato's crystal ball as Shinrai and Obito exchanged an absolute hurricane of jutsu. "Giving Obito one hell of a workout isn't he?" Anko asked. "Obito will win," Rin said confidently. "Against Sasuke, I wouldn't doubt that," Kakashi replied, "But that's not Sasuke. This is someone completely different, and Obito's trump card, his Kamui, is apparently useless." Before Rin could chew him up one side and down the other for doubting Obito I stepped in, "Whether or not Shinrai can defeat Obito is immaterial. If he can keep Obito distracted for the next two minutes, he and his team will pass."

Everyone looked at me and I pointed to the crystal ball, "Look closely, notice anything missing from this fight?" It took them a minute but then Anko started laughing, "Oh he's good!" "What?" Rin asked, "What is it?" "Shinrai's already sent the bells scampering with Shikamaru and Sakura," Minato declared as he watched the fight intently, "His first wind attack cut Obito's belt. When it fell off, Shinrai grabbed it and passed it to Shikamaru and Sakura between blows. This entire fight has been to keep Obito from noticing that they've already run for it with the bells. Obito should've given himself more time. Now even if he does win he'll have to hunt down Sakura and Shikamaru in what's left of his five minutes."

"And Obito's way too into it to notice his belt missing," Kakashi added before crossing his arms, "Are we sure this Shinrai character wasn't a shinobi?" Anko shook her head, "I'll interrogate him more thoroughly tomorrow. He's got my test all by himself. If he's got any secrets, I'll know them by tomorrow evening," she declared with a grin. "Whoa!" Minato suddenly exclaimed as he stood up and leaned down almost pressing his nose to the crystal ball.

The ball suddenly flashed and Minato reared back rubbing his eyes, "Somebody look! Is Obito okay?" Everyone leaned in and then Rin nodded, "He's fine, but Shinrai looks like he just took a seriously major jutsu point blank. What happened?" Minato finally managed to blink the last of the stars from his eyes, "Shinrai pulled off a wind imbued Rasengan and threw it like a shadow windmill shuriken." "Obito must've redirected it with his Kamui then," Kakashi said as he saw Obito poking Shinrai's unconscious body and then leaping up with his hands in the air as he determined that Shinrai was indeed unconscious and doing a victory dance that he certainly wouldn't have done if he had known they were watching. Then he froze, eyes wide and Sakura appeared behind him and knocked him out.

"Think we should go check on them?" Kabuto asked as his medic instincts kicked in. Minato nodded, "Find out how Shinrai pulled that Wind Rasengan off while you're there. Kakashi don't tease Obito too much about his premature victory dance, or the fact that he did a victory dance after beating one genin, or that he lost in less than fifteen minutes." Kakashi sighed, "Ok, I won't tease him, much." Minato's mouth quirked in a slight smile as he made a hand sign and pulled a Space-Time Barrier into existence linked to the training field. I stepped through with Kakashi and Rin right behind me.

 _Shinrai_

I came to and found Kabuto patching me up, the cool sensation of his medical jutsu zipping the raw sensitive slashes all over my body shut. I didn't fail to notice that the arm I had thrown my Rasen-Shuriken with was healing much slower than the rest of me. _Why the hell did I use that without a shadow clone?_ I asked myself. _We didn't have time,_ Suki replied, _Obito would've broken a shadow clone and that would've been our opening out the window. Relax, Kabuto's patching us up._ Sasuke grinned, _And surely we passed. No way would they fail us after a fight like that!"_

I sighed aloud, "So doc, how's the arm looking?" "Not good," Kabuto replied bluntly, "I don't know what you did to it, but it's internally shredded along the chakra pathways from your elbow down. Do yourself a favor and never do that again." I grimaced, "The Rasen-shuriken, actually any elementally imbued Rasengan based technique, requires imbuing the chakra with the desired element before using it to fuel the technique. I can have my shadow clones use it and be alright. Then it just hurts like hell, but this was one of those fights where you just haven't got time for a shadow clone. Is everyone else alright?"

Kabuto nodded, "Obito's got a slight concussion. Sakura and Shikamaru finished him off mid-victory dance." I started to laugh and immediately decided I shouldn't as pain lanced through my chest and gut, "Good for them. I take it we passed?" Kabuto nodded, "Yes. In record time no less." I grinned, "Sweet."


	11. Chapter 10: Graduation

**AN:** _Yes, Anko's test was completely skipped over. This is because even though I was very much looking forward to writing it, the "test" which took the form of a very nice dinner with Anko while trying not to tell her the contents of the test file or be poisoned or seduced, ended with an encounter the censors wouldn't let me include. However it is alluded to repeatedly, so it shouldn't be hard to get the general idea of what happened._

=Chapter 10-Graduation=

==Three Days Later==

 _Sasuke_

I had just an instant of warning as Ruko yelled, "SASUKEEEEE!" and fell out of the sky with a Rasengan aimed at my head. I sprang out of the way and then had to immediately start dancing backwards to keep out of her range as she tried to shred me with her sword, too furious to even shriek insults at me even though I could tell she clearly wanted to. Thankfully everyone backed up very quickly so I had room run. There's no use in trying to fight Ruko when she's like this; she gets too mad to feel pain or listen to any sort of reason and she's much too quick and flexible to restrain. She kept chasing me for what seemed like an eternity of desperate dodging as I tried to figure out what I had done to upset her. Then I tripped.

I think that next swing would've taken my head off if there hadn't been a sudden clang as a gray clad figure appeared between us and stopped Ruko's blade with the chakra hardened flat of his hand. "Problem Ruko?" Shinrai asked as Ruko sprang back. I picked myself up as Ruko demanded to know who he was and that he get out of her way. I guess she was too furious to remember who he was, or what she had learned about me a few days earlier. In retrospect it's almost funny, I would think it something that would be pretty memorable.

Shinrai tilted his head to the side, "Really Ruko? You've forgotten me already? That's a little hurtful." He made a casual handsign and turned into me for just an instant before returning to his natural form, "I thought that would be rather memorable." Ruko blinked and then realization dawned on her as Shinrai asked, "Is this about me and Anko?" Ruko blushed furiously, "So it is true! You cheated on me!" "Nonsense," Shinrai replied calmly, "I am not Sasuke. Sasuke has nothing to do with what I do with Anko, and I have nothing to do with what he does with you. We're not the same person even if I'm stuck in his body. _You have no reason to be upset_." Ruko started calming down instantly and I couldn't decide if I should be irritated or grateful that he was using his Kotoamatsukami to calm her down.

Then he cast his gaze about and told everyone else, " _Move along, nothing to see here. It's almost time for the ceremony, you should be getting to your seats_." Immediately everyone caught in his line of sight moved along and their minds filed what they had heard as being unimportant. It's downright spooky the nonchalance he uses that power with. Most people don't use jutsu just for convenience, Shinrai uses it whenever the mood takes him for whatever he feels like doing with it. Of course, that has made him insanely skilled with his jutsu.

He's gotten so good with the Kotoamatsukami that he was able to make everyone completely calm and accepting of the truth about him and the others in my head within an instant of learning they had found out. I don't even want to think about how ugly things could've gotten if he hadn't been so nonchalant about altering their minds. I don't think he's ever truly abused his power, although I know he used it to turn Anko's seduction around on her when she was conducting our Seduction Diplomacy and Assassination Test.

I can't fault him for that, she had been on the verge of blue balling him worse than anyone in the history of blue balling. Honestly, I would've done the same thing. The shock had been when we found out that she had been using an equivalent jutsu on us the whole time and warned him that men have died of exhaustion trying to satisfy her. Given that this was the first time either of them had left her house since mid morning the day of the last exam two days earlier, I whole heartedly believe her. Shinrai hadn't bothered to manifest a shadow clone so that I could drag myself home until sundown on the second day!

Then he turned to me, "Thanks for the loan. Ready to switch back?" I nodded and Shinrai made a hand sign, "Seal of the Four Gates, _switch!_ " Our minds suddenly switched control of the bodies we were in, putting me back in my original body and Shinrai into the shadow clone I had been inhabiting. Shinrai transformed into himself and caught me as I almost fell, _He stopped Ruko's sword and used the Kotoamatsukami on the entire crowd with our body being this tired?!_ It took me a moment to gather myself and transform back into my usual form panting. I gulped some air and breathed deeply, he's never given my body back this tired!

I looked at him, "What were you doing?! I feel like I fought an army!" Shinrai grinned, "You know exactly what I was doing." "For how long?!" I demanded. "Forty two very energetic hours straight," he replied with a grin. I stared, Ruko stared, Mom and Dad stared, Anko sniggered as she walked past. Everyone looked at her as she laid a hand on Ruko's shoulder, "Hey Naruko, the one in the hat's mine. Just lettin ya know." Shinrai grinned from ear to ear and tipped his hat, "Of course m'lady." She walked past him and gave him a kiss on the cheek before Body Flickering away and pride oozed off every inch of Shinrai. I suddenly did a slight double take and looked at the space Anko had been in an instant before, did she have horns?!

 _Kabuto_

Anko Body Flickered up to the stage with a grin, "I'm here!" "Your horns are showing," I told her bluntly. Anko blinked and reached up to her forehead, touching the small horns that showed her for what she really was, she had a flash of reflexive embarrassment and worry, then she started laughing, "And why shouldn't they? I've finally found a guy who doesn't care and can keep up with it!"

I looked at her in surprise then nodded, "So that's where you've been for the last two days. We were starting to worry." Anko snorted with a grin, "About what? You know I can take care of myself!" I nodded, "Yes and you're usually on time. It's very rare for you to miss a meeting." Anko scratched her head with a grin, "Oh yeah, I forgot about that. I'll fill you guys in on what I learned later. Long story short, he's a handful." I made a face, "There's a shock..."

 _Shikamaru_

It would be a drag to recount Lord Fourth's speech word for word since a lot of it was just standard speech stuff, so I'm not gonna do that. I'll just skip right to the good part...

"And now," Lord Fourth declared, "I am afraid that due to a recent influx of business, that our lineup of instructors for this year's teams have been reassigned." There was a ripple of surprise through the crowd and worry through my year mates. Then Lord Fourth continued, "I am however pleased to announce that we have been able to find replacements. A few old friends have agreed to take up the post of instructor for these fine young shinobi. So let's give them a big welcome!" The crowd cheered at the good news and when the cheering died down Lord Fourth continued, "First of all, please welcome back our beloved Master Bonk. He came out of retirement special for our new shinobi!"

The stage shook as Master Bonk walked up. His muscles were easily as thick as Choji's legs, his hair was stark white and it stuck out nearly four inches from the sides of his head even though he was bald on top. He had an incredibly serious face and a huge mustache. The most phenomenal thing about him though, was how incredibly short he was. He couldn't have been more than a meter high. That didn't stop him from striking a muscleman pose that ripped his shirt to shreds and bellowing, "WHO'S READY TO LEARN ABOUT THE POWER OF YOUTH?!"

Might Guy jumped up from his seat and cheered, "WHOOOOO MASTER BONK!" The only thought on my mind was, _Oh god, is that Might Guy's sensei? Please don't let me get him..._ I think everyone had that thought.

Then Lord Fourth continued as Bonk went and stood over to the side, continuing to pose ridiculously, "Next up, someone I'm sure we all remember quite well, please welcome back..." He looked like just the thought of the next instructor scared him a little, "Mrs. Kabi." There was suddenly a cackle from above and every guy in the crowd older than my year group looked like they wanted to duck and cover. Then something shot by overhead cackling like a loon, looked like it was gonna dive bomb the crowd and then shot on towards the stage.

The something hopped off a flying rake as the rake rocketed on past and took off some sort of helmet, before turning to look out at the crowd. I could suddenly see why Lord Fourth had been making that face, the old bat _was_ kinda scary to look at. She had a shawl, her hair in a bun and a few more wrinkles than the average raisin. Her eyes were beady and her mouth was a thin strict line. The most noticeable thing about her though was that she had a nose as big as my fist with a wart as big as my eye on it. "Thank you for the introduction Minato," she squawked. Then she looked at Master Bonk and screeched, " _Put a sock in it you old wind bag!_ "

Master Bonk looked at her and recoiled in horrified surprise, "But madam, I didn't say anything!" "You were thinking it," She declared crabbily. All of a sudden, Master Bonk didn't look like the worst option on the stage as Lord Fourth cleared his throat and continued, "Next is someone I'm sure you all know, please give a warm welcome to our dear Miss Amai!"

Miss Amai walked on stage and thanked Lord Fourth warmly for his introduction before going to stand by Mrs. Kabi. Lord Fourth went on introducing instructors, but I wasn't paying attention. I'll admit it, I was staring at Miss Amai and praying I'd be on her team. She was _gorgeous_. Like all the best bits of Ino and Naruko put together! Her smile was just absolute pure unfiltered sunshine! Dad clapped me on the shoulder with a smile, "Calm down son, she's too old for you and trust me, she's not your type." _Gonna have to disagree with ya there dad,_ I thought, _please let me be on her team please let me be on her team please let me be on her team!_

 _Menma_

The fourth instructor was I think the most disturbing of any of them. The others all had chakra signatures, the fourth one, who my dad introduced as "Karasu", he didn't. He just materialized in a tiny whirlwind of shadows and then the shadows just… stopped. All I could tell about him was the general shape of his head and that his eyes looked like they were glowing in those shadows. His voice sounded like a chorus of whispers speaking in unison as he thanked dad for the introduction. Even when I switched on my Sharingan, I couldn't even begin to see through the shadows around him. That was disturbing. I leaned over to Hinata, "Can you see through his shadows?" She already had her Byakugan active and shook her head, "Not a thing. It's almost like there's nothing there, just, darkness."

If a Sharingan being unable to see him worried me, Hinata's Byakugan being unable to see him scared me. There wasn't supposed to be anything that could hide from a Byakugan!

I switched my attention back to Dad as he introduced the next instructor though, "Please give a warm welcome to Master Faust!" The air just kind of warped around the spot where Faust was about to appear and then he was there. No fanfare, no burst of smoke or flash of lightning, the only people I've ever seen teleport that quietly are Dad and cousin Obito. That's seriously high level stuff right there.

The last instructor looked like a bum. Seriously, he was old, had a dirty beard and white hair sticking out all over the place. One of his eyes pointed blankly off in the wrong direction and he was super wrinkly. He was even drinking as he strode up onto the stage with his clothes looking to be as much dirt as fabric. I saw Hinata make a face and I know I did too, didn't this guy know this was a formal occasion?! "Ladies and gentlemen please welcome Master Shiri!" Shiri just nodded with an odd sort of grunt and waved his bottle at the crowd before going to stand next to Faust whose calm civilized composure seemed the sharpest contrast imaginable.

Then I got a sinking feeling in my gut as an all too familiar evil grin lit Dad's face, "Now for the real show. Make way for the instructors to choose their students!" Suddenly everyone who wasn't one of the graduates Body Flickered out of the arena and up into the stands as fast as they could. We all looked around as panic started to set in and then suddenly the "selection" began. Bonk jumped off the stage, did a triple somersault midair, and when he landed he stomped the ground so hard it jumped. I'm not talking a little jump either, I'm talking a great big jutsu jump that launched Hinata Ruko and cousin Izana twenty feet in the air. He Body Flickered and snatched them all out of the air before gravity could even start to take hold. He seemed to teleport back onto the stage with them and we all stared in awe of his control and speed.

Then Mrs. Kabi cackled in a way that sent chills down I know at least my spine, "MY TURN!" She stepped forward, spun her rake like a baton and slammed the butt of it into the stage. Miniature tornadoes suddenly hurled Kiba Shino and some poor shmuck from B-Class onto the stage behind her in a heap. She shouldered her rake with a self satisfied smirk, "Amai, you're turn!"

Amai smiled brightly, leapt off the stage and before she landed, a narrow ramp of earth rose out of the ground. She somehow surfed on the ground which undulated and twisted like a snake to take her where she wanted to go. She snatched up Shikamaru, Choji and Ino like they didn't weigh a thing and slid back onto the stage with them. She dropped them on the stage, actually on their feet and they followed along behind her looking slightly stunned as she waved cheerfully to Karasu, "Your turn Karasu!"

I didn't see what Karasu did, but there was a flash of darkness and then I was on the stage with Sasuke and Sakura next to me. We swapped confused glances and then Faust snapped his fingers and three more from B-Class materialized next to us, a guy and two really pretty girls who immediately leapt apart and glared daggers at each other. The guy stepped back to get out from between them, his eyes darting from one to the other to see which would move first.

The last instructor, Master Shiri was probably the funniest of the instructors, if the least impressive. He just took a drink, stepped forward and yelled at the poor trio that was last, I didn't know any of them, they were all from B-Class, "ALRIGHT, YOU THREE THAT ARE LEFT! GETCHUR ASSES UP HERE!" When they stood staring at him for a minute in shock at being addressed so rudely, Shiri grumbled something that I'm pretty sure included a lot of swearing and leapt down off the stage before proceeding to chase them around the arena, bonk one of them over the head and chase the other two up onto the stage while he dragged that one guy he'd clobbered behind him with one hand. I surely can't be the only one that thought, _Thank the gods I am not on his team!_

Dad laughed as the audience applauded, "There you have it!" Karasu looked over his shoulder at us, " _Welcome to the real world…_ " That was about when I remembered how damn scary he was.

 _ **AN:** That's the end of the first arc! Next up is  The Road to Matsunoyama!_


	12. Chapter 11: The Road to Matsunoyama Pt1

Chapter 11 – The Road to Matsunoyama Pt1

Sasuke

==Fifteen Minutes Later==

I accepted the light multi-compartment pack, "Ehm, new pack? That's quite a practical graduation present." Mom and Dad smiled, "No your present's _in_ the pack." Dad reached over and opened the largest pouch before reaching in and extracting a short sword. My eyes bugged out slightly and I looked inside the pack, how had I _not_ felt that in there? Then I noticed the storage seals on the inside. "Cool!" I grinned as I accepted the sword. I slid the straps of the pack down onto my arm and pulled the blade a little out of the sheath. Suki whistled slightly in my head and I could feel the approval from Shinrai and Madara as well. All three of them had a strong preference for bladed weapons.

Then mom reached into the pack and pressed another seal, releasing a small scroll into it, "The pack's got all your clothes in it as well as most everything from your room except the furniture. The seals should keep everything safe and keep most of the weight off your back. Good luck, we love you, come back in one piece. The scroll is also for you. I thinks you'll like it." I blinked, Mom was a lot of things but prone to odd speech she was not. Then I realized what she'd said, " _I_ thinks", the scroll was from Itachi. I hugged them both, "Thanks mom, thanks dad."

Then I took a step back, "But um, why is all my stuff packed like I'm going to be gone for a long time?" Dad grinned, "You're going to be training with the others at Fort Matsunoyama." Mom smiled, "Just remember that we love you. It's village tradition and everyone has to do it." My eye twitched slightly, "How long am I going to be gone?" Dad thought for a moment, "Oh, about a year." My face twitched slightly and I said in a small voice, "Ok." I hugged them again, "Extra hug to tide you over."

Shinrai transmitted the sensation of his hand on my head, _Relax kid, you've still got us. And Ruko's going too._ I smiled slightly.

==An Hour Later==

Choji

We were walking up a narrow mountain road that had a very long rocky drop off on the left and had a small ravine with a fast narrow river at the bottom of a fairly moderate slope. The road was narrow and twisty and couldn't have held more than four people walking shoulder to shoulder. I was munching on a bag of chips as Shikamaru joyfully crowed about our good luck. Of course, Shikamaru's joyful crowing sounds like anyone else's mild griping. "This sun is such a drag, and how far away is this fort we're going to? A full year of training, with all these guys, aw man. And what's with our instructor just grabbing us all like grocery bags? We got Ino on our team too, you know how she is, we'll never have a minute's peace…"

"Yep," I replied simply in between chips. Since I know Shikamaru's hard to understand for those who don't know him, the translation of all that was, " _Can you believe it's sunny? We actually get sun when we're taking a who knows how long hike? Sure it's hot, but it's better than wet and cold. We're going to be there for a full year? I won't have my mom breathing down the back of my neck for a full year, I've got all my friends with me, and can you believe how awesome our instructor is? She's so freaking hot! And we got Ino too! Who cares if she runs her trap too much, we've got two gorgeous blondes on our team!_ "

Speaking of said blondes, (and I have to agree with Shikamaru, they are definitely gorgeous) they were a little ahead of us chatting amiably.

==Meanwhile==

"So you got a sword huh?" Ruko asked Sasuke with a grin as she eyed the blade now resting at his side, "Know how to use it?" Sasuke tapped his head with a grin, "My roommates do." Ruko smiled slightly, "Yeah, but do _you?_ " He made a face as he thought about it, "Eh, kinda sorta. I'm nothing on you though." She grinned, _perfect,_ "So you want to spar sometime? Bet I beat your ass if you don't have your roommates helping out. By the way, how many times was I actually fighting the big guy?" Sasuke raised an eyebrow at her, "Actually they don't help unless they need to. Normally they all do their own things and don't pay attention unless there's something important going on. They only really pitch in when I'm about to get utterly destroyed. Kind of like a Jinchuuriki." Ruko made a face, "Are you trying to say that you actually are better than me?"

Sasuke made a face, "Now why would I say something ridiculous like that? We both know you're better than me." She grinned at the little fuzzy feeling and kissed him on the cheek, "Liar. I'll let it slide because you're cute." _Bowchickawowow_ Shinrai declared in his head causing Sasuke to blush, _You know she's going to be as wild as Anko after her Kunoichi training right?_ Sasuke turned absolutely crimson and Ruko raised an eyebrow, "What's that look about?" "Roommate's a pervert." Ruko looked at him, "Well since he can see and hear everything you do," she leaned a little closer and whispered something in his ear that made Shinrai jump around in his head pretending his feet and butt were on fire _Hot! Hot! Hot! Holy shit we did good to catch her!_

Menma wanted to say something but he knew he had no room to talk given his relationship with Hinata. He smiled down at her and she looked up at him, "What?" "Just thinking about how lucky I am to have you." Hinata blushed with a smile and squeezed his hand.

Kiba

I looked over my shoulder at Shino, "I've got a small problem." Shino looked at me, "Do tell." "So there are ten guys and only eight girls. That means two guys are going to be without dates, and given that we're the only all guy team and two girls are already definitely taken, I've got a bad feeling that it's going to be one of us." "Shouldn't you be more worried about the year long training period we're about to endure?" "Or the fact that our teacher looks like the scariest one we could've gotten?" Sai added from in front of me. Internally I cringed and thought _don't remind me…_ but on the outside I threw my arms behind my head with the biggest most confident grin I could muster, "Nah! I'm not worried! We're gonna sweep this training course thing like a"

THWACK! SWATCH! THWAP! I clapped my hand to the side of my face as the broom nearly scratched it off, "OWOOH!" Shino and Sai had similar reactions as Mrs. Kabi smacked them over the heads, "Don't shoot off your mouths until you know what you're getting into! Matsunoyama is a place where shinobi are made, not some dinky little summer camp for chasing girls!" "WHAT THE HELL YOU CRAZY OLD-" Mrs. Kabi feinted like she was going to smack me in the head with those scratchy bristles again and then jabbed me very hard and very quickly in the gut with the end of her broom handle. As I doubled up wheezing slightly, the old hag looked down that giant nose of hers as she shouldered her broom, "Respect your elders and keep moving!"

She strode off ahead of us and quickly caught up with Miss Amai and Shikamaru's team. "You shouldn't be so hard on him," Amai told her, "After all we're not even there yet." "Mind your own students Amai and let me handle mine my way," Kabi retorted good naturedly. Shino patted me on the shoulder, "Thanks, now we know to watch out mouths around her." Sai smiled as he rubbed his head, "Yeah, who would've thought the crazy old bat packed a wallAHP!" Mrs. Kabi seemed to have teleported to smack Sai in the head with her broom like a bat so hard she knocked him into the rock wall.

"She also has razor sharp hearing and can outrun you!" she squawked, "So keep a civil tongue in your heads and keep the line moving! You're holding up traffic!" Shino and I picked Sai up under the arms and double timed it to the front of the line to get away from the crazy old bat calling, "Heads up! Out of the way! Comin through!" Thankfully everyone flattened themselves against the wall so we could pass. Mrs. Kabi yelled after us, "Yeah you better _keep_ running! No breaks until you catch up to Izana and the shirtless buffoon!"

Izana and "the shirtless buffoon" (Master Bonk) had taken off like a pair of arrows when we got to the narrow mountain road which was apparently the only way up to the fort and devoid of forks or places to get lost. Apparently Bonk had heard Izana was fast and he had demanded to be shown how fast. The answer was: pretty damn fast. Even with her pack and swords on her back, there was still a considerable dust cloud behind the two of them when they took off, it hadn't taken them long to zip clean out of sight. We had no idea how far ahead they were, but we weren't keen to stick around and wait to find out either. That old bat still scares me!

==Half an Hour Later==

We paused as we reached the cliff where the road ended. It had to be at least twenty feet high and looked as though it had been intentionally carved smooth of handholds. The wall next to us looked to have been subjected to the same treatment, but on the upside the road above looked like it was considerably wider, so we'd have more room once we got up there. I looked at the others, "Either of you have climbing gear?" Sai pulled out a scroll and a little canister with a paintbrush handle on one end, "In a sense. How much do you guys trust me?" I swapped a worried glance with Shino. "Since we're to be on the same team, I suppose we should trust you a great deal," Shino replied, "What did you have in mind?"

Sai unscrewed the paintbrush from its canister, "Ninja art, improbable stairs!" His hand moved in a flash and slung paint onto the smooth rock face. A moment later the paint somehow bulged out from the rock face forming a narrow but solid looking staircase. Sai looked at them, "It may not work if I can't hold it, but it's worth a try. I can hold it indefinitely until someone stands on it, once we're on it, we'll have to move quickly." I swapped a glance with Shino, "I'll go first. Drop me down that hole and I'll kick your ass when I climb out." "If you could climb out of that death trap you'd already be at the top," Shino quipped, "Less boasting more stair climbing." I shot him a look and hurried up the stairs as fast as I dared without a handrail.

Halfway up Akamaru whined, "Yeah I know," I grumbled as the stairs started wobbling under my weight, "Keep it steady dude I'm almost there!" "I'm trying!" Sai called, "Hurry!" I doubled my speed and still almost didn't make it as the stairs collapsed back into paint. I had to jump the last three feet and almost fell the whole way down. I landed flat on my chest and scrambled away from the edge with my heart trying to pound its way out of my chest. I'm not sure that I wasn't trembling, I swear I was three shades paler than I'd been at the bottom and I was too shaken up to notice Akamaru wagging his tail and panting a greeting.

"Did you jump all the way up here?" Izana asked. My eyes snapped open and I scrambled upright, "Oh uh no, no. Sai used some kind of stair making jutsu to get me most of the way up." She smiled at my attempt to act like I hadn't been scared shitless a moment earlier, "And you went first, how very brave of you." I blushed slightly and tried to brush off how scary it had been, "Oh yeah, yeah. Um it was nothing, really." Then Master Bonk told me something I'll never forget as he sat there on his rock without a shirt eating a pinecone like a rice ball, "Boy, there is nothing wrong with feeling fear. It alerts you to danger. Forging ahead even when you are terrified is what makes you brave."

Then as he stood up and spat out the parts of the pinecone he didn't want in a disgusting ball of mush before casually tossing what was left of it over his shoulder, I noticed the coiled rope ladder anchored to the rock he was sitting on. "Now then," he declared, "your team has passed this first obstacle on the way to Matsunoyama, and demonstrated very good teamwork, so I will throw your friends the ladder." He casually shoved the ladder over the edge and a moment later I was pulling Shino and Sai up over the edge. As soon as they got up Master Bonk was pulling the ladder back up.

"Isn't it rather rude to pull the ladder up after you used it?" Shino asked. "Oh we didn't," Izana replied, "I had to run all the way up that wall. Bonk-sensei just jumped." "You can run up walls?" Sai asked in surprise. Izana just turned and strode up the nearest tree regardless of gravity before walking out and standing upside down on a branch like it was nothing, "Yep." Then she flipped down, "I guess everyone learns different things, but that's what my parents used to teach me chakra control, so I've had a lot of practice with it. I can stick to just about anything with nothing but my chakra. I can also blow things up with it."

All three of us looked at her like she had just said the sky was falling. She raised an eyebrow, "What? You don't believe me? Fine, watch this." She picked up a large pinecone and her chakra suddenly flared in her hand. The pinecone imploded. She let what was left of the pinecone fall with a slightly smug look, "I hear it works on people too. Wanna try it?" We all took a step back, "Nonono! We're fine!" "Keep that in mind if any of you ever date her, she can castrate you as easily as thinking about it," Bonk declared. We all three covered ourselves and Izana sighed, "Thanks sensei, now there's no way they'll ask me out." Bonk shrugged, "Oh I don't know, the Inuzuka and Aburame both have a reputation for liking strong women." Izana shot a smoldery look at Shino and me. Both of us immediately felt like we were very small mice being sized up for dinner by a very large snake. Then Sai poked me, "Breathe Kiba, _breathe_."

==Meanwhile==

"Forest Storm!" Himitsu Senju yelled as the huge shield of vines she had summoned around her team to protect them from Haku's storm of ice blades exploded away from them, quickly spreading to the edge of Haku's ice mirror cage and ripping it apart. Haku popped out of one and the renegade Mist Jonin casually sprang back away from the wildly whipping branches. Haku snapped her fingers and fell through the icy mirror portal that flashed into existence beneath her. She dropped through the corresponding mirror which appeared inside the defensive brambles and caught a punch in the gut from Hatsumei, whose enhanced senses had allowed him to spin and strike with perfect timing.

Unfortunately Haku was faster and portaled right back out. She reappeared outside the brambles and her hand went to the blade on her back with a smile, "Alright kiddies, you asked for it." She had just a flash of movement spotted from the corner of her eye for warning and jerked aside, narrowly dodging the arrow that zipped through the space where she had been an instant earlier. The Hyuga girl bounced back away from Kisame as Haku's student attempted to slice her in half with his massive sword, the Kurikibibocho.

Haku turned back to the now stilled branches below, "So you've got a way to get out of there too…" Her sword flashed out and took Himitsu's head off as she materialized out of the tree. Haku's blade froze the half formed body into a block of ice, along with half the tree she was standing on. The frozen wood clone shattered and Himitsu growled in irritation from the top of the bramble dome. Haku pulled back her sword for a thrust that would send a bolt of her special freezing chakra right at the Leaf Chunin and turn her into a block of ice just like her clone. Then suddenly something washed through the forest and every ounce of chakra that wasn't in somebody's body was ripped away. All chakra constructs shattered and all external jutsu were negated. Himitsu only narrowly managed to avoid splatting on the ground as Hatsumei leapt up from where he had been coordinating their team within the bramble dome and caught her.

A chill ran down Haku's spine, "It can't be…" Then a voice declared behind her, "Can't it?" Haku sprang away as fast as she could, "KISAME RUN!" To Kisame's credit, he shoved Yumiko away, dropped his fight in an instant and almost made it to the next branch before a massive invisible force fell on him and slammed him into the ground. A boy with red hair and glowing bluish eyes grinned at him from next to a tree, "Sorry mayt, cahn't letcha due that. Boss man sez. Ey Konan, Yahiko, ya caught that old guy yet?"

Zabuza's elderly form was tossed out of a seal and into a tree. He slumped to the ground wheezing, "Damn kids, haven't you ever heard of respecting your elders?" "We have," A cheerful girl declared as she strode through the seal, a large boy with spiky orange hair right behind her. "Unfortunately for you," Konan added with a smile, "We just hit those we respect harder because going easy on them would be an insult." Zabuza clutched his side trying his best to breathe shallowly, "Well then I'm flattered. Feel like I've been hit by an elephant."

Haku had stopped midair and was pulled back to the masked figure that had appeared on the branch behind her. The masked man reached out and caught her hand as she was pulled back, easily pulling her to him as though they were dancing. He pulled his mask up with chakra threads and there was a strange look in his glowing blue eyes as he regarded her, "You look like you didn't expect me to come after my almost bride." Haku blushed furiously, "I was against that marriage from the start! You knew I hated the Mizukage and his toadies!" Hattori's face was conflicted, "And I thought you _loved_ me, or at least knew me enough to know how I felt and that I would have catapulted you or Zabuza or anyone you wanted into the Mizukage seat in a heartbeat to make you smile."

A little bit of the tension went out of Haku and her face softened. "I'm sorry Hattori," she said quietly, "I just couldn't, not when I was worried it would give them something on us." There was silence for a few moments. The Leaf Chunin were totally silent and attempting to let the Rain shinobi and Mist rogues forget they were there. They might not have been the most experienced bounty hunters, but they knew their stuff well enough to recognize Hidden Rain's strongest Jonin on sight. "Why are you here Hattori?" Haku asked quietly.

"Because," Hattori sighed, "I never got any closure on us. Now I'm on the verge of another betrothal, and she's great, but you know I don't like to get into things if I can't do them a hundred percent, and if my heart's still chasing you, then I won't be able to give it to Sokushi." "Sokushi Misutsuyu the Daimyo's daughter?" Hattori nodded, "That's the one. As you can see, I need an answer. Will you come back with me? We're high enough on the food chain, we can do that." Haku looked torn for what seemed like an eternity then she stepped back on the verge of tears, "I'm sorry Hattori. If I came back now and married you it would look like we were just picking up the old betrothal deal, and I can't do that. Maybe someday after the Mizukage's out of the way, but…for now, go be with her. Be as good to her as you would've been to me and _mmm_?!" Hattori suddenly cut her off with a kiss. Haku briefly wondered if she should resist and then kissed him back.

When they came up for air a small chill ran down her spine as she saw the spark in Hattori's eye, "Why are you looking at me like that?" Hattori's grin grew, "I'm trying to decide what kind of flowers I should send to the funeral. I just found a match for a pyre that's been building for years." Haku's eyes widened, "You mean you'd…" Hattori smiled and stepped back, "Go Haku. Find a better bolt hole and I'll come for you when it's all over. Since you insist, I will go ahead with the betrothal to Sokushi, but it'll be a double wedding on a clear morning after a storm beats away the clinging mist."

Haku grew pale as Hattori turned to his students down below, "Nagato, let Kisame up. Konan patch Zabuza's wounds and then we're leaving. You three Leaf Chunin go home or I'll send your heads to Asuma in a box." Hatsumei, Yumiko and Himitsu all immediately turned and bolted, determined to make it home alive with the intel they had gleaned from the love struck Jonin's conversation. "Ya sure bout this boss?" Nagato called, "They'll probably tell tha Leaf everehthin they hud." Hattori smiled smugly, "Do I look worried?" Haku was almost frightened by how very not worried he was by the prospect of the Hidden Leaf's intervention. He looked almost excited about it.


	13. Chapter 12: The Road to Matsunoyama Pt2

Chapter 12 – The Road to Matsunoyama Pt2

==Meanwhile==

Obito

I frowned as I sat in sensei's office next to Rin. Anko was sitting in a chair and we were about to discuss the man in the boy who we had just sent my daughter off with. Sensei looked at Anko, "So Anko, now that you're finally here, care to tell us what you learned from your "interview" with our mysterious ghost?" A grin flitted across Anko's face at the memory of the way she'd spent the last two days and then she sobered up and got down to business, "First of all, he's not Amestrian. He's not even from this world."

We all looked at her dubiously and she waved our concern aside, "I know, I know, sounds ridiculous, but the genjutsu I had him under was a charm and compulsion jutsu normally used for breaking experienced Jonin. Shinrai couldn't have lied to me if he wanted to, and he says he's from a parallel world where there aren't any shinobi and there's no chakra, magic, alchemy, soul manipulation, nothing." I frowned, trying to wrap my head around the idea of such a world as Anko continued, "He's made himself extremely familiar with everything he can in our world because until Lord Third separated his mind from Sasuke's there _was_ no Sasuke and Shinrai thought he was going to have to live his entire life pretending to be over twenty years younger than he is."

"So he's our age?" Minato asked. Anko nodded, "He is. I know what you're thinking Minato, he's not the one Naruko's involved with. You saw all four of the minds in that head the other day. Sasuke's real, and he loves Ruko with everything he's got. Shinrai's a ghost if he's anything, same with the other two. However he is an extremely formidable ghost. I questioned him about everything he's learned, and he's brought himself to at least Jonin level. He's activated something called a Mangekyo Sharingan, says it's the same thing Obito and Shisui have," that earned a sharp intake of breath from me and Rin before Anko continued, "Except Shinrai says his is different. Obito's got his Kamui, and Shinrai says he suspects Obito could also access something called a Susanoo, along with possibly one more jutsu. Shinrai says his are different. He used one of them on me when I tried to blue ball him at what was supposed to be the end of the exam. It's a genjutsu as strong as the one I was using on him, says it's the same thing Shisui has. That's why we were going at it like rabbits for two days straight." She pointedly didn't meet anyone's gaze with that last declaration.

"Then his last ability he says is the ability to force open seven of the Eight Gates at once," Anko paused at the stares. "Are you serious?" Sensei asked quietly as I quietly reeled in shock. "With that kind of power and the Kamui he'd be next to unstoppable," Sensei said quietly. Anko nodded, "That's right. He says he's developed enough control while using it that he can manipulate armor like a puppet from inside the armor while he uses the Kamui to render himself intangible. He can hit as hard as he wants with no repercussions. He's also mastered chakra shape manipulation to a degree I would've thought impossible if I hadn't watched him. You know how easily he mastered the Rasengan? That's nothing, he can do virtually anything with his chakra. As far as elemental transformation, he's had Madara teaching him everything the big guy knew and learned nearly all of it. He also claims he's making progress on _Ice_ release, which I almost find more troubling."

"What is this guy?" Rin asked in a stunned voice. Anko smirked, "I'll tell you what he is, he's a lonely hopeless romantic that's totally wrapped around my little finger." "Really?" Sensei asked. Anko nodded with self-satisfied grin, "I asked him and he was a hermit in his past life. One of those scholarly shut-ins that never gets out and hasn't got a social life. Kinda like Kabuto." "Hey now," Kabuto grumbled from where he had been sitting silently atop the file cabinet. "Don't give me that look," Anko retorted, "You know it's true, and Shinrai is if anything even worse than you." Kabuto raised an eyebrow, "That…is truly impressive. I see how you're so confident in your ability to have him wrapped around your little finger."

Anko nodded, "He says he's had quite a long happy relationship with Suki since Lord Third brought her into the picture, made Sasuke and dredged up the First's mind from the afterlife. Suki says she's tried to get him to be more social and that she thinks they've been through all the stuff most relationships go through, but they're both unsure if it counts since they're just different reincarnations of the same person. Kinda gives a whole new meaning to 'go fuck yourself' doesn't it?" I couldn't help it and a snort of laughter got out.

Anko plowed right on, "So anyway, Shinrai's nothing to worry about. He sees Sasuke as his little brother and would never do anything to jeopardize Sasuke's happiness. He's also very fond of everyone Sasuke is friends with, and of course he's got the hots for me. Madara of course would never do anything to harm the Leaf village, and he also shared a very interesting tidbit. Brace yourselves," she paused dramatically, "Naruko is the reincarnation of Hashirama Senju." If anyone's attention had been anything less than entirely focused on her, it certainly wasn't now.

"Come again?" Sensei asked in a stunned voice. Anko nodded, "Yep, so needless to say, Madara would never let anything happen to the reincarnation of his best friend who also happens to be the girlfriend of his current reincarnation." Sensei sat back stunned, "That's…very interesting. Continue." Anko grinned at the shock she had caused, "Now on to the last one. Suki. I haven't been able to do any digging yet, but I know where she's from even if I don't know who she is yet." "Go on," Sensei said. "She's from Hidden Stone," Anko replied with a thoughtful look, "There's no doubt about it given her abilities, and given the scope of them, I'm pretty sure she was one of the Death Scythes. She shouldn't be very hard to find I don't think given how infamous and unique the Death Scythes are in their abilities."

Everyone stared at her and I asked, "A Death Scythe? Seriously?" Anko nodded, "Think about who it is. Do you really think that the reincarnation of the First Hokage would be anything less if they were reincarnated as a Hidden Stone shinobi?" I nodded, "Fair enough. Will she be a problem?" Anko shook her head, "I very much doubt it. She's outnumbered in that head three to one, and unlike the others she hasn't got any of her memories for some reason. Given that Lord Third was the one who pulled her mind back into the world, I wouldn't be surprised if there was something in that seal that keeps them separate that keeps them from having any treacherous thoughts. If anyone could pull something like that off, it's Lord Third."

Sensei nodded, "So, anything else we need to know?" Anko sat forward, "Yeah, I'm not sure what it's worth, but Shinrai has managed to teach himself a bit of alchemy and directed me to what he calls his "workshop". He says he's got notes on a lot of stuff he's been working on, jutsu and the like. He claims he's been using shadow clones to do nothing but research for years in preparation for his shinobi career. I don't know what all he's come up with, but he seems to think we'll be interested. I was actually going to head down there soon and see what all he's got down there." Sensei raised an eyebrow, "Mind if I come along? I'd be interested to see what he's been working on."

Anko nodded, "I figured you would want to, but before we go, there's one more thing he told me, and I think this may be the weirdest." We all waited as she took a deep breath, "He knew who we were when he got here." We all tried to process that and then Kabuto sat forward, "Come again?" Anko looked at the ceiling, "He claims that in the world he came from, there's a story about our world, a radically alternate history with equally different geography. He says nearly everything is different, but a lot of it is eerily similar and sometimes even dead on. He says the list is too long for him to even begin to just tell me, but he's written it down. He says to be prepared if we read it, that it shocked the hell out of Madara and he expects it to be even more shocking for us."

==Half an Hour Later==

Minato stared at the scroll in his hands and then looked at the wall of cubbyholes full of scrolls. He swapped a glance with Anko, "He thinks _this_ is a _C-Rank_ technique?!" Anko immediately reached and grabbed one of the scrolls labeled S. Within a moment of unrolling it she looked away with a pained expression, "Ow, my head. Minato, you read this, too much science. It's like something my dad would write!" Minato accepted the scroll and quickly scanned it, his eyes bugging out as he took in the complexity of the multipurpose integrated alchemic jutsu, something so complex Minato would've thought it impossible if he hadn't been looking at an in-depth walkthrough of how to do it, "Who is this guy?!"

Anko was searching the cubbyholes, "I want to know where this list of what he thought he was going to find is. Wait a minute," she suddenly pulled out a scroll that was as thick as her arm, "No way!" She opened it and started reading, "Yep, this is it. Written in Amestrian and local." She kept reading and after a moment she exclaimed, "What kind of messed up stories did he hear about us?!"

==Meanwhile==

Naruko

So since Iz had already made it up the rockface with Master Bonk, we didn't have to do anything, Iz just threw us the ladder down. The others all had varying ways to get up. Sasuke pulled his team up with a wire he manipulated with his chakra, and Choji was able to use his expansion jutsu to just pull himself up. Shikamaru did something similar with his shadows, and the other two teams, well, I'm embarrassed on their behalf. I've never seen such a lack of teamwork.

The next team was Master Faust's team, Lily, Kaya and Ichiro. Master Faust teleported up without them and left them to figure it out for themselves. I didn't know anything about why Lily and Kaya seemed to hate each other, really I still don't get it, but I felt really sorry for Ichiro. Lily and Kaya were arguing about who was better suited to climb up and get the rope for a good five minutes, and then it looked like they were going to start fighting.

Ichiro it turns out is very skilled at transformation. When it looked like Lily and Kaya were going to start fighting, he just turned his fingers into probably seven-meter long tentacles, wrapped his quarreling teammates up and pulled himself up to the top like everyone else had, carrying their weight without a single complaint. I still don't know where he got the extra body mass from, he's a tiny little guy so I guess he used his chakra. We were all pretty impressed with his transformation, but Lily and Kaya lit into him like they had just caught him peeking at them in the bath. Master Faust made them back off, but Ichiro still looked miserable and I _know_ I was not the only one who immediately lost some respect for Lily and Kaya. "That's _not_ how you should treat your teammate," I grumbled and saw several nods of agreement.

After Master Faust finished telling Lily and Kaya off he signaled Master Shiri to bring his team around to make the climb. It took Master Shiri's team almost two hours to get up the rock face, and they were fighting almost the whole time. By the time Master Shiri was able to teach them how to use their chakra to cling to surfaces, Master Bonk had already given a lecture on the edible parts of every plant in the clearing and taken us over to the stream for fishing.

Sasuke and Izana had quickly gotten two fires going and were busily cooking up the fish for us. I lost a little more respect for Lily when Ichiro asked why she wasn't making a fire too and unwittingly revealed to everybody from A-class that Lily knows Fire Release. Lily had snapped at him and poor Ichiro had shrunk away timidly as Kaya started picking a fight with her over it. Then Lily revealed that Kaya had Lightning Release and could have started a fire with it just as easily and my opinion of her sank a bit more too.

I leaned over to Hinata and said quietly, "Please tell me you're as disgusted with them as I am." Hinata nodded, "It's not even about them being unhelpful, Sasuke and Izana had it covered. It's how they're treating each other and Ichiro. They'll never be any sort of a viable team like that. Rivalries are one thing, those two are being absurd." Suddenly the two bickering girls disappeared just as Master Shiri's team was pulling themselves up. The first one over the edge, a skinny guy with short dark spiky hair who I later learned was named Wataru, almost lost his grip helping the girl in their group (Katsu) over the edge as Lily and Kaya suddenly appeared at the bottom and quickly started protesting loudly and blaming each other.

Master Faust rose and walked over to the edge as Wataru pulled Katsu the rest of the way up and they started helping their third teammate Hiro. Master Faust leaned over and called, "If you two don't learn to work as a team, you'll never make it as shinobi. You can climb it again, and if you can't, you can turn around and go home. There's no place for that sort of pointless feuding at Matsunoyama, and it is highly unbecoming of young ladies such as yourselves." Lily and Kaya scaled the wall in less than five minutes to apologize to Master Faust and assure him that it wouldn't happen again. I feel certain that I wasn't the only one who didn't believe them. Ichiro quietly gave them their fish as they sat down near him. They didn't even thank him, just silently started eating while pointedly not looking at each other.

Master Shiri chased his team over to the stream to catch their own fish and we all jumped as there was an explosion a few minutes later. "Yaaay!" Wataru cheered as fish and stream water rained down, "Kat-senpai got fish!" "Heck yeah I did!" Katsu proclaimed delightedly. "Noisy brats!" Master Shiri exclaimed, "That's not how you fish!" "It did get us fish though," Hiro pointed out as he started gathering up fish, "Good job Pyro." I raised an eyebrow, what happened to the viciously quarreling trio I had heard at the bottom of the rock face earlier?

It wasn't long before we had all finished eating. The instructors called for our attention and made a declaration that surprised us. "You'll be going the rest of the way to Matsunoyama on your own," Master Faust declared, "We are going on ahead to disable the traps. You have one week to catch up. If you don't, you might as well turn back because we'll only leave the traps down for one week. If you are not there when we reactivate the traps, you will have to navigate through them to get in, a prospect I'm sure none of you are keen on since they were designed to keep battalions of Jonin out."

Master Bonk stepped up, "The passes up to Matsunoyama are dangerous. Your first test as shinobi will be your ability to make it to Matsunoyama in time. You will split into three teams so that hopefully at least some of you will make it." "Each team will have a different map. Each pass approaches Matsunoyama from a different direction. Fail to follow your map and you will fail whether you make it in time or not," Mrs. Kabi declared. "Each pass has got a small shrine. You also have to bring us something from the inner sanctum of your shrine so that we'll know you went," Master Shiri said after a long chug from his bottle, "Oh and uh," he grinned with a slightly sadistic edge, "watch out for the monsters."

We all paled a little and then Miss Amai frowned at Shiri, "Don't call them that, the Guardians are very noble creatures. They're just ah, territorial," she added with a grin. Then she turned to us, "But yes, you should be careful. The Guardians of Matsunoyama will undoubtedly harry you all the way there, and there are additional guardians at each shrine which will attempt to prevent you from entering. You will have to fight them, but even in the unlikely event if you get a chance, you cannot under _ANY_ circumstances kill them. Doing so will be just as bad as not finishing at all, and it will draw down all three Pass Guardians upon you. If they come after you like that, they _will_ avenge their fallen and you will probably not survive. So don't kill them. I don't think any of you will be able to, each guardian is easily as strong as a Jonin, and they all have unique abilities that you will be hard pressed to stand against, let alone defeat. So, be careful. We'd hate for any of you to not make it."

" _If you're ready, we will now announce the teams and give you your maps,_ " Karasu said.

==Meanwhile==

Anko sighed, "Nothing like a fun meeting of the Royal Court is there?" "Nope," Kabuto replied, "Nothing at all. Don't you just love how everyone there wants to kill each other?" Minato sighed and Kushina smiled wanly in agreement. "If you two are ready, we'll get going now," Minato declared as he popped open a Space Time barrier.

==Two Hours Later==

Hikari Tenryu, one of Hidden Grass's strongest Jonin, looked around at her team as the sun was sinking in the sky, "Are we almost ready?" "We're as ready as we'll ever be," a voice declared from a campfire behind her. Hikari suddenly became as pale as her snowy white hair as she recognized the voice. She whirled and every Grass-nin near the campfire sprang away, " _YOU…_ " Hikari hissed. Hattori Hanzo waved a tea cup and saucer with a cheerful smugness, "Me."

Hikari's grip tightened on her scythe, her eyes wide with rage and hatred, "You brought students, how considerate of you, now I'll be able to return the favor for when you cut down my instructor and team in the Garden District nine years ago!" Hattori raised an eyebrow, his smile unwavering as Konan, Nagato and Yahiko exchanged glances. "Are you still mad about that?" Hattori asked, "It was the Garden District, and according to my sources they all lived and have been living peaceful lives as civilians."

Hikari took a step forward, her anger barely in check and Hattori's gaze turned cold as his grin disappeared. He sat forward, entirely business, "All fun, games and reminiscence aside, we're here to help you with your assault in exchange for assistance with a similar action down south. It's time those arrogant bastards were nothing more than a bad memory. If you want to fight me, I'd suggest you wait until after I've finished helping you destroy Hidden Waterfall. You're in charge of this operation and you need to be in optimal fighting condition. If you think you can handle Hidden Waterfall after a fight with me and my students, then you're not half as smart as I remember. I'll fight you after we're done if you still want to. Trust me though," he added with a small smile, "you don't want to."

Hikari narrowly managed to reign in her anger and hatred for the man who had effortlessly crippled her best friends, "You're here to help?" Hattori grinned, "As I said, it's high time those arrogant bastards were a bad memory. Waterfall's not in any condition to stand against this strike force of yours when I'm your back up. If I have Grass for support, I'll be able to take down the Mizukage and Hidden Mist with no trouble at all and a minimum of casualties on my side. Much like you, I don't need the help to win. However it will turn a battle into a slaughter. I think you remember my strength well enough to hear the truth in that, and I've only gotten stronger."

Hikari's emotions raged against her logic. _Tsuna, Kirito, Master Komugi!_ Memories of her teammates injuries raged through her, almost blinding her with hatred for the monster of a man before her. _If I fight him now though, he'll take out as many of my strike force as he can, and if he's gotten as much stronger as I have, then I probably won't be able to beat him._ _Master Komugi's back! Tsuna's eyes! Kirito's arm and leg! I could barely manage a draw last time, and that was with Z, Asuma and Stein helping! We would've lost if Haku hadn't intervened and talked him down! If I fight, he'll slaughter us and the mission will fail. Hidden Grass will be back to square one and he'll be able to sell it as a peacekeeping action! He'll suffer no consequences even if he does massacre us!_

Hattori saw the emotions warring on her face and sat forward, meeting her gaze steadily, "I know you hate me for what I did to your team Hikari. Will you strike this deal with me if I repair the damage I did to them?" Hikari's mind skidded to a halt, _WHAT?!_ Hattori tapped his temple, "At its current level my Rinnegan grants me healing abilities so great that legend says I should be capable of raising the dead, and I _know_ I can fix what I did to your team. If you don't believe me, look at what I did for Yahiko."

One of his students, a large boy with orange hair, pulled off his shirt and Hikari's eyes widened as she saw that his right arm and the entire right side of his chest was several shades lighter than the rest of him. "Yahiko was caught in the crossfire during one of our turf wars with Mist. A Hidden Mist paper bomb flattened his house and blew about forty percent of his body to smithereens. If I can rebuild that much of him while he's on the verge of death, don't you think I can probably heal your friends, who are by all accounts very healthy?"

Hikari's eyes widened, _He can, heal them?_ She reached a decision, "Alright. Help us crush Hidden Waterfall, then if you can actually heal my friends, Hidden Grass will support you in your war on Hidden Mist." Hattori grinned and Hikari had to resist the urge to shiver, "Then let's get started."


	14. Chapter 13: Courts and Conspiracies

Chapter 13-Courts and Conspiracies

==The Imperial City==

Minato, Kushina, Kabuto and Anko stepped through the Space Time Barrier into the courtyard of the royal palace. They were greeted by a man in black with a massive longsword, "You can never just use the front gate can you?" "Where's the flair in that?" Minato asked good naturedly, "We're on time right?" Dracule Mihawk nodded, "Yes although as always you cut it close. The others are inside waiting for you. The court will convene shortly."

The procession from Hidden Leaf strode in, Kabuto and Anko quickly peeling off and ascending to the wings above the courtroom where the body guards kept watch over their charges. Minato and Kushina quickly made their way to the Council Room where they took their seats in the rows beneath the Daimyo of the Land of Fire, the aging and feeble Lord Sekitan. Sekitan raised up weakly from his chair to lean down and shake Minato's hand and bow to Kushina, "Lord Hokage, Lady Kushina, it is a pleasure to see you again." Minato and Kushina greeted him warmly. Even though he was by far the least important of the three powers in the Land of Fire, they still made an effort to remain polite to the old man whose weakness had allowed them to essentially take over the Land of Fire.

After greeting Sekitan Kushina and Minato turned and started greeting the other members of the court. "Lord Death as always it is good to see you," Kushina said as cordially as she could to the head of the Order of Death and Hidden Stone. "Yeahp yeahp good to see you too Lady Kushina! Howdy howdy hows the kids?" Lord Death nodded and bobbed while talking in his odd quackish voice. "Oh they're just fine," Kushina replied with a smile, "They've just graduated Hidden Leaf's shinobi academy at the top of their class. We're very proud."

Lord Death nodded and suddenly whipped out a white gloved hand, "Ah yes, Kid will be undertaking training with some of our up and coming students soon as well under my bodyguards Stein and Spirit. He'll be training alongside some of our most prominent up and coming young shinobi and meisters. I'm very proud." "Isn't my niece Crona in that class?" A voice asked from the row below him. Lord Death and Kushina turned to the stately woman with long black hair who was sitting on the table looking up at them with what seemed a sleepy smile. "Yes Arachne, Crona is in the same class," Lord Death replied with an inscrutable expression behind his mask, "I know you and Medusa aren't close but I thought surely you'd keep up a little better with your own family."

Arachne shrugged noncommittally, "Medusa and I have been frosty since our falling out. If my sister wishes to remain distant from me, then I will not pressure her. I moved past our quarrel years ago, this gap is not my doing and if I know my sister at all, I know that she has to come to conclusions on her own for them to have any worth. However I do think it's a shame for Aozora to not know her cousin." She smiled, "I was honestly thinking of hiring Crona's team to run a bodyguard mission for Aozora sometime soon so that they could get to know each other. If you wouldn't mind Lord Death?" Lord Death nodded, "Mmhmm, sounds good to me, family shouldn't be total strangers."

Kushina smiled thinking, _clever old bastard isn't he Kurama? I can tell he hates Arachne but he's pulling off friendly and slightly senile perfectly. Makes you wonder if she knows how he really feels about her._ _ **She knows.**_ Kurama answered, _ **It's as much an act on her part as his. She has no real interest in meeting Crona either except as a possible weapon to exploit so she can gain more influence with Hidden Stone.**_ _Their lack of cooperation and trust makes it remarkable that they manage to keep the Land of Earth one of the three strongest in Nihon._ Kurama nodded in her head but didn't say anything.

Then the doors suddenly flew open and bright light shone through providing an impressive backlight for the as always flashy entrance of the Land of Light's widow Daimyo, Ragyo Kiryuuin. Among the seven Daimyo of Nihon, Ragyo was considered far and away the most formidable in one on one combat. The demon armor left behind by her late husband made absolutely certain of that, but even without it Kushina remembered rumors of Ragyo's monstrous strength. She was also well known among the upper echelons for having the Emperor in her pocket, and quite often, her bed too. That was something she had in common with her most prominent rival among the council, Arachne. The difference was that Arachne was much more a tactician than Ragyo and it was a commonly held theory that Arachne's daughter Aozora was in fact the not-so-secret bastard child of the Emperor.

Kushina had very little respect for either of the council's most powerful Daimyo as she knew both to be vain, selfish and she suspected the woman of being behind her husband's demise as well after Kurama's animal senses had picked up on the delight flooding Ragyo at Lord Kiryuuin's funeral despite her faked tears and her at the time very young daughter Satsuki honestly bawling her eyes out. Satsuki had since grown up and become as much a force to be reckoned with as her mother, if not more so.

Possibly the greatest testament to Satsuki's power, was that _Naruko_ had actually developed a wary respect for Satsuki after their first encounter at court a few years earlier. Naruko was a rash girl wildly confident in her own abilities, and rightly so given her skill and power, but she wasn't stupid and had a knack for knowing when she was out of her depth. For her to be wary of someone without having even fought them yet was a tremendous monument to that person's power. No one less than Jonin merited that sort of immediate respect from Naruko. Menma had given a similar report of Satsuki's strength and elaborated that she dominated the proceedings among the Successors' Court even when the Crown Prince was present. Speaking of…

Just as Ragyo was taking her seat, the Emperor and Crown Prince were wheeled in. Yes, _wheeled_. The Royal Bloodline had been particularly weak over the last several generations, the past three Emperors had relied so entirely on the strength of their council that it was highly suspected by the council members that the most recent members of the royal family couldn't even access the Golden Dragon's power, let alone wield it with the power of a god as their predecessors had. The current Emperor and his son were arguably the worst of the lot. The Emperor was so lazy that he had ordered wheels placed on his throne so that he didn't even have to walk to go where he wanted, he could just be wheeled around on his throne.

As bad as he was, Koga was arguably even _more_ of an embarrassment. Unlike his father, who had gone to the trouble of having his throne mounted on wheels so that he could maintain some semblance of dignity, Koga's approach to the matter was an utter affront to the dignity of the Royal House. Koga was always, _ALWAYS_ drunk. Not just drunk, he was often so utterly plastered he could hardly talk. Naruko and Menma both reported that he had actually fallen asleep during the first council meeting they had attended, and the other heirs had just sighed and told them not to worry about it, he did it often.

What made it worse was that Koga didn't even have the decency to stumble about drunkenly. He had one of his bodyguards, an extremely strong young man with green hair and three swords at his side who was actually one of Dracule Mihawk's two apprentices, drive him about in a wheel barrow while his legs and oftentimes his arms dangled out over the sides. Very rarely was it both arms though, one arm was usually either holding a sake bottle to his chest or upending it to spill it down his gullet, and sometimes all over him. Now as he was wheeled in, he drunkenly guffawed, "Haha we're late! Sorry everybody! Forward Zoro! To our smaller court we go!" he laughed as he pointed towards the door which led to the Successors' Court next door. Zoro exhaled and wheeled his drunken charge to his destination with a long suffering look. Koga's other bodyguard Mifune trailed along behind them unhappily carrying a bag of Koga's sake in addition to the sheath of fifty katana on his back.

Kushina watched him go, as always doing everything she could to conceal her contempt, _Considering who the current members of the Royal Family are, maybe it's a good thing they're such jokes._ Kurama nodded, _**If they DID have the Golden Dragon's Power, they'd probably sink all of Nihon and then be too drunk to even realize they were drowning.**_

 _Death The Kid_

It wasn't hard to tell when the crown prince was coming. His obnoxiously loud laughter gave him away as the doors opened. Liz sighed and Patty cheered, "Yay! Koga's here!" Patty seemingly got along well with Koga, her ditzy bubbly and ever optimistic cover personality meshing well with his complete inability to take anything seriously. That and Koga claimed to like blondes. He had never been inappropriate with her though or Liz and I would've killed him on the spot, crown prince with bodyguards or not.

"HEYOOO PATTYYY!" Koga called as Zoro wheeled him in. I shared in a mildly frustrated sigh with the others in attendance. I wasn't sure I had ever seen the Successor's court all present at once, but I had met all of them. Today it was just me, Satsuki Kiryuuin from the Land of Light, Aozora Gorgon, and Sokushi Misutsuyu from the Land of Water, plus all our bodyguards of course. Koga wasn't a bad guy, his soul was perfectly symmetrical and a happy cheerful golden one at that. He was affable and a warm sunny influence. The only thing that made him distasteful was his abhorrent drinking and the obnoxious manners that came with it.

"KID! LIZ! IT'S BEEN TOO LONG! HOW ARE YOU LOT DOIN'?!" Koga asked at the top of his lungs as he rolled past me on his way to the head of the table. I bowed my head politely even though I wanted to scream at him to quiet down and act in a way befitting his station, "Quite well your highness." Koga laughed and waved, "Aw Kid, how many times do I gotta tell ya ta lighten up? We're friends! No need for all that "highness" stuff, Koga's fine!" I just inclined my head slightly further. Even if Koga wouldn't act in a manner befitting his station, I'd give him the respect due that station, at least publically.

Mifune nodded to me as he passed and I nodded back. Mifune was from the Land of Earth and he had been instrumental in bringing down one of our strongest rogues. He was well respected and a beloved hero in Hidden Stone. It galled me to see him carrying liquor for that sot Koga, but it had been Mifune's choice, so I wouldn't say anything.

Koga finally reached his place at the head of the table and hauled himself into his chair. It was embarrassing to watch the difficulty he had pulling himself into his chair. As he finally got into his seat properly, he set his bottle on the table, straightened up, smoothed the wrinkles out of his robes, turned and bowed to each of the ladies in turn. His formal greetings would've been much more impressive and regal if we hadn't seen him moments earlier.

First, to his immediate right was Satsuki. Satsuki was a very beautiful young woman, and her soul was like an egg. Perfectly symmetrical, white, and tough, with a warm gooey center unless I was mistaken. She returned his bow and greeted him politely. Her two ever present bodyguards, Uzu Sanageyama and Ira Gamagoori mimicked her bow.

Next was Sokushi Misutsuyu. Sokushi was the oldest of us by a few years and probably the best able to mask her disdain for Koga's drunkenness. She greeted him with a bright smile that actually seemed quite genuine. It wouldn't surprise me if it was a genuine smile, the only soul I had ever seen as friendly and accepting as hers was my friend Tsubaki's.

Lastly was Aozora, the girl widely suspected to be Koga's half-sister. Aozora was by far the youngest person in the room and she was also the worst at hiding her distaste for the Crown Prince. If the rumors were right, it was probably a position she thought she should be occupying. She greeted Koga politely, but her voice was cold and distaste oozed from her every pore. Aozora was also the person in the room _I_ liked the least. She was the daughter of my father's hated rival Arachne, and I could tell from her soul, she was wicked, crooked and every bit as nasty as her wretched mother the Spider of the Land of Earth.

As soon as he was done with the formal greetings, Koga lapsed back into a slouch and the easy, drunken grin, "Welcome back everybody. Is there anything happening I should know about?" I shook my head, "Nothing to report from the south." "And nothing to report from the East," Satsuki added. Koga nodded, "Alright. Very good. Anyone have any interesting personal news?" Sokushi nodded, "I might be marrying Hattori Hanzo soon."

That earned everyone's attention. Hattori Hanzo was widely considered the most capable and formidable shinobi in Nihon. His singlehanded annihilation of over thirty shinobi teams including a Jinchuriki in the Garden District nine years previously had been the talk of the Imperial City and the entire shinobi world. He was every bit as well known and feared as any of the seven major Kages. For him to be on the verge of a betrothal to the next Daimyo of the Land of Water meant that Hidden Rain might soon become the Land of Water's primary shinobi village, and that the Land of Water would enjoy the same sort of solidarity among its powers that had made the Lands of Earth, Fire and Lightning so formidable. The Order of the Koi would be the only force in the Land of Water not directly under the command of the Land of Water's new power couple, and despite attempts to cover it up, rumor had it that their Jinchuriki had recently fled along with two of Hidden Mist's strongest shinobi.

Koga beamed at Sokushi, "Well congratulations! Will I be invited to the wedding?" Sokushi smiled back warmly, "Of course your highness! We would never dream of leaving you out!" Koga laughed, "Excellent! And while we're on the topic of betrothals, Satsuki-" Whatever he was about to say was cut off by a tremendous explosion that shook the doors leading to the Royal Court's council chamber and nearly took them off their hinges.

I rushed for the doors, Liz and Patty instantly leaping and assuming their weapon forms as Satsuki leapt over the table with her bodyguards and Koga yelled for Mifune to go see what was happening and Zoro to guard Sokushi and Aozora. I blasted the doors the rest of the way off their hinges with Liz and Patty and burst through into a cloud of smoke and dust.

==Five Minutes Later==

The Emperor wasn't dead, but he was injured. The legendary Hawkeye Mihawk had seen his even more legendary sword taken away from him and used to swat him aside like a gnat after the most powerful slash he could muster in such a space without risking civilians or the Council Members was blocked by their assailant's bare hand. Lord Death himself had recklessly attacked with a full power Kishin Hunter and seen it effortlessly shattered, blowing him and his weapon partner back in the process. Ragyo Kiryuuin had several broken ribs, a dislocated shoulder and a massive bruise welling along her jaw line where her opponent had penetrated her supposedly indestructible Demon Armor with apparently nothing but brute strength. Minato had been knocked out even as he materialized out of a Flying Raijin and Kushina had been incapacitated by genjutsu that punched through her five tailed form's chakra cloak like it wasn't there.

Arachne had been tied up in her own spider silk and Lord Ainz Ooal Gown of the Land of Iron had been blasted through a wall. He was swiftly followed by his two bodyguards who had materialized their armor and attacked only to be effortlessly rebuffed by a blast of wind that hit like a solid punch. Kabuto and Anko had both been pinned effortlessly as the ground reared up and ensnared them at a speed too fast for even the best shinobi Hidden Leaf had to escape. The Mizukage and his bodyguards had been knocked out and badly burned by a tremendous fire jutsu and the Head of the Order of the Koi had been burned to death. The Head of the Order of the Grasshopper and the Takikage were both killed by Hawkeye Mihawk's sword as it came hurtling out of the smoke and dust. The Raikage and Killer Bee had had their heads smacked together with enough force to give them both concussions, and the Kazekage had been suffocated until he passed out along with the Head of the Order of the Tanuki who wasn't waking up.

Before the mysterious assailant could do anymore damage Death the Kid had managed to blindside him with his double barreled Death Cannon. The mysterious assailant had actually seemed hurt by that and after a brief but incredibly intense sword fight with Satsuki had disappeared in a blast of red smoke as it looked like Mifune and Mihawk were about to jump in. The entire capitol was locked down immediately and every street, house, nook and cranny was combed searching for the man who had nearly wiped out the entire Imperial Council and their bodyguards. The council and the Emperor were scared and furious. By the end of the week, the entire country had heard about the massive reward for the head of the man in the red mask that had brazenly introduced himself as Higure. Unless they were in a remote mountain pass or hiding under a rock, soon everyone had heard the name Higure of the Akatsuki.

==That Night==

Fuu, jinchuriki of the Great Grasshopper, sat on the roof of the Order of the Grasshopper's main temple. She looked out at the Village Hidden in the Waterfall. For an underground and underwater village, there was a surprising amount of greenery there. She had felt it when the Head of the Order of the Grasshopper and the Takikage had been killed as two of the six points on the seal that bound her to the village and made her the most harmless person there came unraveled. She hadn't told anyone yet though.

She knew that as soon as she did their replacements would be chosen and the seal would be back to full strength. Even more though, she didn't want to be the bearer of bad news. She knew she would be blamed and accused of trying to escape when they found out because they knew she would know immediately. She didn't care, she'd be damned if she told them and damned if she didn't. She sighed and thought to Koun'na, _I wish they would just trust me, I could do so much for the village. Maybe then people would accept me._ _ **I tell you again that it is not your fault child. It is their corruption which I sought to escape by fleeing into your infant body which has made your life so miserable. I will forever be in your debt for protecting me from another abominable host, and I refuse to let you blame yourself for the hatred and imprisonment those corrupt priests have burdened you with. If you must blame anyone blame me.**_

 _I could never blame you,_ Fuu thought with a smile, _you're my only friend. I'd go mad if I didn't have you to talk to. You're right though, there's no point in beating myself up over it though._ She frowned, _They'll probably do that for me._ Koun'na's anger at the thought of his Jinchuriki being unjustly punished again clearly radiated across their mental link.

Fuu sat there in silence for a while, and then the wind started blowing. Fuu's eyes widened, she had never left the village and thus never felt wind before, _Koun'na, what is this?!_ Suddenly half the village, along with the rock wall of the village and all the water in the lake above, vanished. Fuu's heart skipped a beat as half of the multitude of points in her seal representing the lives of the village she was bound to serve were instantly snuffed out. _Koun'na, did you feel that?_

Koun'na nodded, _**Whatever has come for this village is as strong as a fully trained and matured Jinchuriki. That level of destruction is on par with the wrath of a Great Beast like me. If they had not been so horrible to you, I would urge you to engage. This though, I will consider the penance for their corruption which I have for so long dreamt of wreaking upon them. As much as I care about you Fuu, if you engage I will not lend you my power for this fight. Stay back and let the fight take its toll, I will protect you if the enemy strikes with that power again.**_

Fuu trembled slightly as lives started winking off her back rapidly. She instinctively wanted to help, but she knew that without Koun'na's help she'd be just one more life snuffed out tonight. She climbed down and flipped under the ledge through a window into the temple. She calmly started packing her few belongings in a pillowcase before tying it shut with a string and tossing it over her shoulder with one thought now ricocheting around her mind, _If everyone else is dead, then I can finally leave…_

As she walked through the temple, which had emptied rapidly as most of the priests had either run to join the fighting she could now clearly hear out in what was left of the village or panicked and fled, she thought about all the loneliness she had felt over the years as the Order of the Grasshopper had done everything in its power to ensure she was miserable. Ever since the day Koun'na had jumped into her instead of letting himself be forced into a new Jinchuriki from the corrupt family that had been passing him down father to son for generations and as a result leading the Order of the Grasshopper, Fuu's life had been nothing but misery. She hadn't been allowed to attend school with normal children and she was ostracized by the entire Order of the Grasshopper, which was nearly half the village. Even when she did leave the temple, the Order had turned public opinion so against her that even on good days she was turned away and shunned on sight. On bad days…she didn't want to think about it. She didn't even have the power to make them afraid or leave like most Jinchuriki could because of the seal that had been placed on her over the seal that bound her soul to Koun'na's.

Only one thing cheered her up, and as that thought crossed her mind she turned and headed for the fifth floor kitchen. The fifth floor kitchen was small because only a few people lived on the fifth floor, herself, the Head of the Order, and the Four Elders of the Order. In that kitchen was a shelf. On the top shelf was a cookie jar. Fuu was never given cookies. Whenever Fuu had a terrible day, she would sneak into the kitchen in the middle of the night and swipe a cookie. She never took more than one, and she was never caught, but that little act of rebellion and the utter deliciousness of the cookie never failed to make her feel better.

Now she strode into the kitchen and casually reached up to the top shelf and pulled the cookie jar down. When she was little she'd had to climb and jump to get at the cookie jar. She sat on the table (something else she wasn't allowed to do), crossed her legs around the cookie jar, opened it and started eating to her hearts content. She was acutely aware of the chakra cowering in the closet but she decided not to address the most punitive and unfriendly of the Elders.

Before she was halfway done with the cookies, only a handful of the lives recorded on her back were still there. The sounds of fighting outside were dying down and Fuu sensed a tremendous chakra moving through the temple at a rapid rate along with three smaller but still tremendous chakras searching for survivors. Soon the largest of the four advanced to the fifth floor and within moments he had arrived at the door to the kitchen.

He was a big man, radiating incredible killing intent with armor on under a black cloak. His blonde hair was unruly and spiky, his eyes were glowing bluish purple and his sword was jet black. Fuu raised an eyebrow and calmly munched another cookie as she stared down the man who had wiped out half the village in one attack. Hattori Hanzo blinked at the apparently unimpressed reaction from Fuu, usually people cowered or fled when he was pumping out killer intent on this level. He narrowed his eyes and looked closer with his Rinnegan, _Ah, so this is the Jinchuriki. Why isn't she fighting though?_

Fuu swallowed her cookie and jerked a thumb at the closet, "Elder Henken's in the closet. Go ahead, I won't stop you." Elder Henken tumbled out of the closet as Fuu took another bite of cookie and reached into the jar for another one, "Fuu! Please! I'm sorry for the way I've treated you! I was wrong! I'm sorry! Please forgive me! Don't let him kill me, you're the only one that can save me! We can rebuild the village! I promise you'll be a hero! Please save me!" Henken was down on his knees as Hattori and Fuu shot him unimpressed looks. Hattori waited for Fuu to finish chewing to see what she'd do.

Fuu swallowed and put the cookie that was halfway to her mouth back in the jar before replacing the lid. She set it aside and looked down at the man who had been more abusive than anyone else in a village that hated her, as well as the last anchor on the seal that trapped her. "Save you?" she asked quietly, "Why should I?"

Henken's blood ran cold as Fuu continued, all the fear and pain and loneliness and resentment that had built up over the last sixteen years suddenly pouring out, "Why should I do anything for you?! I never asked to be a Jinchuriki! I didn't want to undermine the authority of the Elders and the Order! I had no choice in any of this! You've treated me like a criminal! Like I was some sort of diseased freak!"

At this point she was standing and yelling at the top of her lungs, "You've turned everyone in this village against me and made my life a living hell! I've never been out of this village! I've never been allowed to have a single friend! You've beaten me and tortured me and starved me whenever I stepped the slightest _toe_ out of line! I've never wanted anything but a friend or a family! You took those things away from me when I was an infant! Being an orphan would've been hard enough even without the hell you bastards have put me through! I hate you! Why would I _ever_ risk my life fighting him for you?! Fight him yourself! If he kills you, I'm _free_! You're on your own!"

Hattori's expression had been growing darker and darker as Fuu's rant progressed. As Henken started in to redouble his begging and apologies, Hattori said quietly, "I've heard enough." Henken's head snapped around and Hattori's gaze locked onto him, the killing intent that had faded in curiosity about Fuu returning tenfold. Hattori advanced with menacing purpose and slowness as Henken scrabbled away from him. Once he had Henken backed into a corner Hattori snarled, "A quick death is too good for you, and you're too much of a scumbag to sully my blade with killing." He raised his hand and sick looking toxic smelling purple chakra formed around his hand, "To hell with you. Meifu-no-O." Henken's eyes widened as he screamed in agony, then he slumped against the wall, his lifeless stare proof that he was very much dead.

Hattori turned to Fuu and his murderous expression melted away to reveal concern, "Are you okay child?" Fuu nodded, "Yes, I'm fine." Hattori nodded and sheathed his sword, "Good. After the fighting dies down, if you are truly free to leave, then go find a woman named Haku. She has another Jinchuriki with her whose tale is similar to yours. She will shelter and protect you to the best of her extremely formidable abilities. Koun'na the grasshopper has supernatural luck, with that and Koun'na's ability to find other Jinchuriki, I feel certain you will be able to find Haku easily." Fuu blinked as she realized he was really letting her go, then she smiled slightly, "Thank you." Then the happiness caught up to her and the most dazzling smile she had ever had erupted across her face as she grabbed the cookie jar, grabbed one out and offered it to Hattori, "cookie?"

Hattori blinked at the sudden wave of happiness radiating from the young Jinchuriki as intensely as his earlier killing intent, then he laughed his booming laugh and accepted the cookie as he walked out and headed downstairs to rejoin his students. Koun'na jumped for joy inside Fuu's head and she did too.

==Five Hours Later==

Hattori and Hikari had set aside their differences and were carousing like the best of friends long into the night in wake of their victory. Hikari was so soused and cheerful that she had actually let Hattori get away with some romantic advances and was on the verge of reciprocating them. Now everyone else had gone to bed and it was just her and Hattori around their campfire.

Just as they broke off their drunken kiss that Hikari would never admit to later, a voice that sounded distant and distorted spoke from across the campfire, "Before you two go and do things you'll never speak of again, how about filling me in on how it went?" Hattori and Hikari both snapped their attention to the blurry man sitting across from them who seemed to swim in and out of vision. "Higure," they whispered in frightened unison before looking at each other in surprise, and asking each other in uncanny synchronization "you know him?!" "This whole thing was his idea!" "You too?!"

==Meanwhile==

Kankuro erupted into his father the Kazekage's bedroom, "DAD! TEMARI'S GONE!" Rasa sat bolt upright in bed, "WHAT?!" "I just checked her room! She's taken Crow and gone! She left a note saying she won't be their puppet and she's not coming back!" Rasa swore violently as miles away his daughter sailed through the sky on her way to the border of the Land of Iron using her glider-puppet the Crow.

Temari looked over her shoulder as the countryside raced by beneath her, "I'm sorry dad, Kankuro, Little Gaara, but I can't be their puppet Jinchuriki. I just can't. Please forgive me." She turned her attention back to steering the Crow with tears in her eyes.

==The Night Before==

Satsuki stepped out of the bath and quickly dried herself before pulling on her robe. After tying it tight she stepped out into her bedroom, ready for a long night's sleep in preparation for the trying day she knew awaited her in the morning. Her eyes snapped open as she realized something was off. Everything seemed fine. Then she noticed the man in the corner waiting for her.

Satsuki dropped into a fighting stance and radiated killing intent that would've knocked out the population of a small town. Even unarmed, she was Satsuki Kiryuuin, and she was more than a match for any would-be assailant. The man raised his hands in a peaceful gesture from where they had been crossed and a red mask was suddenly visible in the shadows of his hood, "Satsuki Kiryuuin, my name is Higure. I am here on behalf of an organization known as the Akatsuki. I have a proposition for you."


	15. Chapter 14: The Road to Matsunoyama Pt3

Chapter 14-The Road to Matsunoyama Pt3

 _Izana_

I am not happy. Hinata is not happy. Naruko is utterly livid. The source of our displeasure? The bad tempered blonde and equally nasty redhead behind us. One would think that after the scolding they got from Master Faust they'd straighten up a bit. Nope. Not those two. The minute the Jonin instructors had gone, those two had been right back at it. Poor Ichiro, I don't know what he did to deserve those two for teammates, but I think having no team at all is a little bit harsh. I say he won't have a team at all because judging from the way she's got steam shooting out of her ears, Naruko's going to kill Kaya and Lily both before long just to get some peace and quiet.

If she can just hold out another ten minutes, I'll win my bet with Hinata about how long she can control her temper. I cross my fingers and try to ignore their bickering.

 _Hinata_

 _Crap,_ I thought as Naruko continued to restrain her temper despite the infuriating bickering behind us. _On the one hand it's good that she has this kind of restraint, but on the other hand, I've only got ten minutes before I lose the bet. Gotta do something…I don't want to tell Iz about what I did with Menma!_ A bead of embarrassed sweat rolled down the back of my neck and then I noticed Ichiro walking a little bit faster to catch up with Izana. He quickly struck up a conversation with her and Naruko immediately turned her attention to the conversation to drown out Lily and Kaya's bickering. Just as I consigned myself to divulging my torrid relations with Menma, Ichiro howled in pain as Lily yelled, "Quit being a pervert!" I looked over my shoulder and saw flames dancing around her hand as Kaya nodded in agreement with her arms crossed. Ichiro managed to put out the flames scorching his butt by dragging it along the ground as fast as he could in a very embarrassing way, apparently an action he's very familiar with judging by the speed with which he employed it.

Izana started backing up with a frightened look in her eyes and I immediately took the cue to get the hell out of the way as I saw Naruko shaking with her head down and her fists clenched. Lily and Kaya figured out that they might have messed up as they saw me and Izana getting as far away as we could from Naruko. Ichiro apparently has a better sense of self-preservation than they do because he sensed the killing intent coiling off Naruko like a toxic mist and ran a hundred meters on down the trail, which is about the minimum safe distance Izana and I had removed ourselves to. I made a note to thank Ichiro as I realized I just won the bet. It was easy to pick out Izana's small groan as she realized that at the same time. Just then though, there were bigger concerns, like Naruko's chakra whipping the dirt and leaves around her into a small whirlwind.

Lily and Kaya took a step back as they realized that maybe they should be running. Then Lily did possibly the stupidest thing I've ever seen and settled into a fighting stance. Kaya then did something that equaled Lily's stupidity and settled into her fighting stance as well. Naruko's eyes snapped open and I swear her killing intent jumped to Jonin level as her gaze zeroed in on Lily and Kaya. Even from where I was, I wanted to turn and bolt like a frightened rabbit. Lily and Kaya both paled as they remembered who Naruko is. Then Naruko was holding them both off the ground by the throat, which was even more impressive because Kaya was actually about half a head taller than her. I can only imagine how intense Naruko's killing intent must've been at that sort of proximity.

"Perhaps you didn't hear your sensei," Naruko said in a deadly quiet voice, "or maybe you're just such twits that you don't care and think you can get away with treating your teammates like shit." It would've been hard to hear her, except for the fact that the entire pass was silent, almost like it was holding its breath. "Personally," Naruko continued as the temperature seemed to plummet, "I really don't care which it is. Either way, you two are going to straighten up, and start treating each other and Ichiro with some damn respect, or we'll be drawing maps for your families to come pay you their _last_ respects. There is no place in the Hidden Leaf Village for the kind of bullshit I've been listening to you two spout for the last hour. I will not tolerate it, and if either of you thinks I will not hear about you continuing this kind of nonsense whenever I'm not around, then let me inform you of how very _very_ mistaken you are. I know _everything_ that happens in the Hidden Leaf, I hear every word spoken and I see every action taken. I have been trained to never let a single scrap of information escape me and if you think something so miniscule as the fact that Lily only ever wears black underwear on the days she's going to see Ichiro and makes a point to be at the hot springs whenever he is because she secretly enjoys the attention when he tries to peep on her, or that Kaya wrote a poem about how much she loves beef dumplings on page 36 of her secret diary that used to live under a hidden compartment in the floor under the right side of her bed but is currently sealed into the interior left pocket of her pack, then you are sorely mistaken." Lily and Kaya's eyes widened in horror as everyone else stared in shock, all of us wondering the same thing, _How does she know that?!_

Naruko smiled a smile so cold and menacing I could hardly believe it was still her, "I am Hidden Leaf's next spymaster and Jinchuriki. If either of you thinks you can cross me and get away with it, you will wake up one morning after you think I've forgotten about it and find the entire village **plastered** with fliers detailing every dirty little secret and nasty thought either of you has ever had. So I'm going to say this just once: treat your teammates with some damn respect or I swear on Lord First's grave, you. Will. REGRET IT." She unceremoniously slammed their heads together hard enough to knock them out and dropped them.

Then she turned and the unnerving chill was gone as she returned to her usual sunny disposition, "Now that that's settled, are you alright Ichiro?" I wasn't quite sure what was scarier, this new side to Naruko I had never seen before, or the way she had effortlessly snapped back to her usual cheery smiling self in an instant.

==Meanwhile==

 _Sasuke_

I knew there was going to be trouble when I saw Sai looking at Sakura like he was thinking hard. I really wish I had said something. We did learn something though: never let Sai go uninformed unless we want him to get hurt. "Hey aren't you that girl who's been screwing Rock Lee?" I Body Flickered immediately as I saw Sakura's expression twist with fury and lightning started flickering around her. I landed about fifty meters away, just in time to see Sai getting electrocuted in a blast of lightning. Menma, Kiba and Shino stared and then Sakura stalked over, so furious that it was actually screwing with her transformation.

Her face and form flickered as she caught a very scorched looking Sai by the lapels and picked him up off the ground, " _Never_ mention that to me again or next time you'll be getting the full lightning bolt instead of just a little zap." She looked at Kiba and Shino who were on the verge of outright cowering, "Keep your teammate's mouth under control, or I'll sew it shut." She turned without waiting for an answer and stormed down the trail. We all stared after her for what seemed like a long time. Then just as she was almost out of sight, Sai sat up with a stunned look and said in a small voice, "I think I just wet myself…"

I don't know how Sakura heard him but she was immediately almost doubled up laughing so hard she had to stop and lean on a tree. Her transformation finally flickered out and I was afforded another good view of the _real_ Sakura as she straightened up and looked at us with a smile playing about her lips. I smiled slightly, maybe she won't realize her transformation's down? Sakura caught my eye and winked at me as her transformation went back up. Then she called back, "Are you boys coming or not?"

I swapped a glance with Menma and the others and as Kiba and Shino pulled Sai back to his feet we started walking. I asked Suki in my head, _Any idea what's up with her?_ Suki's laugh echoed around my head, _Everyone wears a mask Sasuke. Kunoichi just wear better ones than most people and more often._ Shinrai transmitted the sensation of his elbow on my shoulder as he munched an imaginary apple, _In other words little bro, girls are crazy and it's best to just go with it when they're worth it and avoid them when they're not._ I could feel Suki roll her eyes as Shinrai reclined on an imaginary cloud in my head, _No wonder you never had a girlfriend._ Shinrai ate the rest of the apple whole and pulled the core out a moment later before sitting forward and tossing it over his shoulder, _Yep. Learn from my mistakes Sasuke, having a girlfriend is worth it, especially a gal like Ruko or Suki._ Suki huffed indignantly but we could tell she was pleased with the compliment. Shinrai had extremely high standards that most girls simply couldn't meet, making any attempt at a relationship that might not pan out an unworthy investment of his time. He had been a hermit for sure, but it was mostly by choice.

 _Kiba's talking to you,_ Shinrai added absently. I started and looked at Kiba, "What?" Kiba frowned, "I was asking if that rumor I heard about what happened during your exam with Obito-sensei had anything to do with what Shikamaru figured out." I laughed nervously, "You could say that…" Then Sakura looked at me, "I've been curious about that too. Who was that?" I sighed, _Well, secret's out for real now…should we show them?_ Shinrai and Suki swapped a glance in my head. _Just tell them for now, you're supposed to be taking this test alone. Calling one of us out would defeat the purpose._ I nodded, "Alright, guess the cat's out of the bag. You guys are all familiar with the concept of reincarnation right?"

They nodded so I continued, "Well there was an issue with mine. I was actually born almost a year after my body. Up until that point, my previous life was in residence trying to figure out what was going on. Then Lord Third decided to do an exorcism in case Shinrai was dangerous, and now I have the minds of my previous three lives stuck in my head rattling around. Two of them are Jonin level and the third one is my great-great-grandfather Madara. I'm not them, but yes that is what Akamaru smelled that first day at the Academy."

I didn't pay attention to their stares and kept walking, "While we're on the topic of who we really are and what we can really do, I have mastered Fire Release, I'm working on my Lightning. On the rare occasion I switch with any of my past lives I have access to all five elemental releases as well as considerable genjutsu abilities, and a type of seal jutsu from the far west known as Alchemy that can act as a substitute for B, A and even S-Rank jutsu with little to no chakra expenditure. I have the Sharingan and the most amazing girl in the world is my girlfriend. That's about it for me." I turned and saw everyone stopped and staring at me. I smiled so broadly my eyes were almost closed, "Sakura, your turn."

If I hadn't subtly activated my Sharingan, there's no way in hell I would've dodged the lightning infused punch Sakura dropped out of her Body Flicker as she exclaimed, "NO!" Even as she was dropping out of her Body Flicker, she realized she had missed and struck again. She almost got me, and the lightning blazing around her hands as she started doing her best to pummel me made it extremely hard to see, let alone dodge. _Since when did she pack such a wallop?_ Shinrai muttered in my head. Then she Body Flickered up over my head and drop kicked me in the face.

I hit the ground hard. Then she sat on my chest and held a handful of lightning poised to punch through my head as she leaned down, "My life is my business. I don't care if you're one to share, I'm not. Don't pry and you won't get hurt. Clear?" I sighed, "Crystal." Shinrai popped a chip into his mouth as Sakura got off me and I got the distinct impression he and Suki were sitting on a couch watching my life like a play, as they so often do. _Damn,_ he quipped, _New Sakura's a badass. Wouldn't have thought she could move that fast, and I swear that's gotta be some variant of a Chidori. Think she's related to Kakashi?_ Suki and I were in agreement, _It's probably safer not to ask._

Sakura glared down at me, "Are you done spacing out yet? We've got places to be in case you forgot." I rolled to my feet, "Sorry about that, voices in my head having a debate." "Could you be any weirder?" Sakura asked acidly. I thought for a moment and Shinrai transmitted an image of himself wearing glasses with big googly eyes on springs, a big fake nose and a ridiculous mustache under a pink and black zebra striped hat as he drawled, _Yep. I can do weirder._ I couldn't help but chuckle a little which only made Sakura shake her head in disgust and walk off. I wonder if she knew I could hear her when she muttered, "Of all the people to get stuck on a team with, _I_ got the perverted lunatic…" I'm not going to pretend that didn't sting.

 _Shinrai_

I threw up a barrier to block my thoughts from Sasuke's so that he could concentrate. Suki did the same and I looked over at her in the dreamscape we occupied when we were "dormant", "So, what do you think? It's definitely not the Squad Seven I was expecting." Suki sat forward and looked at the "screen" that showed us what Sasuke was seeing, "That Sakura is hiding something big. Judging by how touchy she is about it, it's probably something bad. You said Chidori is Kakashi's technique? Is it possible that she's secretly his daughter?"

I looked up at the darkness between us and whatever ceiling there was, "As much has been different from what I was expecting, it wouldn't surprise me at all. The thing is though, we've met her parents, and they actually are the parents I was expecting. Do you think she might be like us?" Suki tilted her head thoughtfully, "It would explain why she's so worried about anyone finding out. If she's not really Sakura and just playing it by ear as best she can, then it's very reasonable she'd be worried about anyone finding out."

"Then again," Suki mused, "She could just be that touchy about her privacy." We swapped a look, "Nah." "She's got to be hiding something," I declared, "And that settles it. My curiosity has been roused, we _will_ find out what it is she's hiding." Then I paused, "Hey aren't witches a thing here?" Suki nodded, "Notorious problem. You don't think…" "Nothing's impossible," I replied, "Do your soul viewing thing on her!" "It wouldn't do any good," Suki replied, "If she _is_ a witch, then she probably knows some form of soul concealment so I wouldn't be able to see her real soul even if I looked."

"And then again," I mused, "She could be all three. I can't decide if that would be awesome or scarifying." Suki raised an eyebrow at me, "Scarifying?" I grinned at her, "Yeah. You got a problem with it?" She pounced and straddled me before laying the blade of her scythe form across my throat with that seductive grin she wears so well, "And what if I do?" I smiled, "I'll just have to change your mind." She purred and the blade disappeared back into her arm, "so persuade me." Sasuke didn't know it, but he was very glad we were considerable enough to put up a barrier between our minds and his. He'd have had an extremely hard time keeping a straight face if we hadn't.

 _ **AN:**_ _So I'm opening a poll. Who is Sakura really? You decide! The poll's available on my profile page and waiting for your votes!_


	16. Chapter 15: The Road to Matsunoyama Pt4

Chapter 15-The Road to Matsunoyama Pt4

==That Night==

 _Shikamaru_

When somebody you can't see starts laughing a scary laugh in the middle of the night while you're on watch duty, it means bad news. When that somebody tears through the Shadow Paralysis you put up that should be at least a hundred times stronger than normal because it's the middle of the night like it's nothing, it means _really_ bad news. When that somebody erupts out of the forest roaring like the demon you then see them to be, it's _extremely_ bad news.

Everyone was awake instantly and just as I was trying to use my Shadow Possession a massive explosion lit up the clearing and knocked the enormous beast which I could only assume to be one of the Guardians we had been warned about reeling. Katsu hadn't even gotten up to throw the blast-tag laden kunai. She sat up and Wataru skittered back away from her, "Everybody back up! Kat-senpai's pissed!" Katsu turned a lethal glare on Wataru, "And I would appreciate a little _quiet_." I swapped a glance with Choji and Ino who shrugged in confusion. Then Katsu's hand flickered and three more blasting kunai thudded into the Guardian's chest just as it was picking itself up. It had just an instant to blink in surprise and then **BOOM!**

The explosion knocked everyone who was upright off their feet except for Wataru who was apparently used to Katsu's explosions and had adopted a low to the ground stance the minute he saw her hand move. The Guardian was slammed backwards through several trees and the rock wall of the cliff shook a bit from the impact. "INTERRUPT MY F***ING BEAUTY SLEEP AGAIN AND YOU'RE DEAD GOT IT?!" Katsu shouted at the hole through the forest the Guardian had made. There were a few minutes of silence as Katsu laid back down, "Hiro, Wataru, make sure that thing doesn't come back, it's been a long day and I'm tired." Wataru and Hiro nodded, "Right." A few moments later Katsu was snoring again.

Then Wataru's whisper ghosted across the clearing, "But Kat-senpai is so sexy already, why does she need beauty sleep?" "You want her to stay that way don't you?" Hiro whispered back, "Now come on, let's get this place fortified before that thing comes back, Shikamaru, Choji, Ino, you three keep an eye out while we lay some traps." I nodded and Hiro and Wataru went to work with their wire and kunai, making a remarkably quiet job of it to avoid doing anything that might wake up Katsu.

A few hundred meters away, Kakashi examined the remains of his Wood-Style construct, _Well, I'm not sure I've ever seen a genin make quite that short a work of one of my constructs. I guess I'll leave them in peace for the rest of the night. I wonder who they sent to harass Sensei's kids. I hope Naruko isn't that nasty when they wake_ _ **her**_ _up. She'd probably knock down the whole forest._ He smiled and Body Flickered away back to his camp up on the rocks above the pass where he'd be able to see the new genin almost the entire way to Matsunoyama, and make their lives a living hell the whole way.

==Meanwhile==

 _Sasuke_

I didn't know what it was, but it was big, fast, hard to hit, and it hit back really REALLY hard. The worst bit was that we couldn't even touch it with attacks that weren't using fire or lightning, and Shinrai and Suki were being frustratingly quiet and unhelpful. The upside was that Sakura was turning out to be an absolute monster with Lightning Release, and I had enough Fire Release to back her up. I wasn't sure what Menma, Kiba, Shino and Sai were up to back there, but whatever this thing was, no matter how much lightning and fire Sakura and I hit the thing with, we couldn't disrupt the shadows surrounding it.

I've gotta say, I was growing more and more deeply impressed with Sakura as time went on. I would never have guessed she had this kind of skill. I was actually being pressed to keep up with her, and her Body Flicker was good enough that even to my Sharingan she turned into a blur when she used it. I'm a little embarrassed to admit she was actually taking the lead on this fight. She kept getting in close to it to try and hit it with her Chidori-esque strikes, and that made it hard for me to keep the mid-range fire techniques going without burning her. Mostly I was covering her "retreats" which often consisted of her dancing back out of the thing's range, or getting smacked across the clearing.

Then Menma yelled, "NOW!" And my Sharingan picked up dozens of kunai raining down around the thing, all loaded with flash bombs. I quickly covered my eyes for just an instant and saw Sakura springing back just before all the flashbombs went off. I inhaled and prepped the biggest fire jutsu I could muster while still covering my eyes. A moment later, Sakura's hands snapped out and lightning discharged, jumping all around the kunai and into the creature as it tried to blink the stars from its eyes (if it had eyes). The creature howled as the lightning punched holes clean through it, and then I cut loose, _Dragon Flame Jutsu!_ I roared in my mind as I cut loose the huge blast of flames I had built up.

When the flames dispersed, the creature was gone. Then I had just an instant to react as it suddenly launched forward, considerably smaller now, almost human sized. I actually managed to spring out of the way before it connected. Then when it landed, it spun, shadow tendrils lashing out in all directions, smacking us back and slashing us all badly. Then in an instant, it was gone.

I panted as I picked myself up, I had four relatively shallow cuts. One across the cheek, one on my shoulder and forearm where I had tried to block, one on my hip and one on my leg. I cast Sharingan glares around warily, searching to see where our assailant had gone, "Monster my ass, that was a Nara!" Everyone stared at me.

==Meanwhile==

Shikaku Nara stood on top of a nearby tree watching the new genin he had been sent to harry, smiling slightly, "Smart kid."

==In The Next Pass Over==

"Hayate Gekko if you don't drop that Transparent Escape Jutsu right now I am going to come over there and beat you for it!" Naruko declared sharply as she shot a glare at an apparently empty patch of air. Everyone would've stared at her if they were awake as the patch of air didn't do anything. Naruko's eyes steadily tracked something before she got up and stormed towards it, pulling a kunai out of her pack as she got up. She turned sharply and threw the kunai right over the middle of the group and it exploded into a huge cloud of dust on the other side. A moment later a bright orange figure went running off out of the huge cloud.

"Nice try!" Naruko called before launching another kunai. This one didn't expel a paint cloud, it actually exploded. A moment later another Naruko appeared out of nowhere, torqueing a massive fullbody punch into a man in a billowy cloak and an oni mask who appeared out of nowhere for just a brief instant. There was a thud against a tree a few seconds later and then Naruko was invisible again as her Shadow Clone started etching a seal into the ground around the perimeter of the camp with a kunai. Everyone had been woken up by the blast and Hinata and Izana had their dojutsu active, allowing them to narrowly spot the slight disruptions in the air as one smacked around the other like a punching bag and sounds of their invisible fight echoed around the clearing.

Everyone else was totally lost until a voice asked out of nowhere, which Hinata and Izana could see to be the disruption in the air that had been getting pummeled, "How can you see me?" it asked in a definitely male voice. "Did you forget that my godfather invented that technique?" Naruko asked from a seemingly empty patch of thin air next to a tree. There was a sound of shuriken flying and then they appeared a moment later buried in the tree trunk. "Nice try," Naruko laughed from a different spot, "but I'm a ventriloquist."

She spoke from a different patch of air, "And I'm an Uzumaki sensor, so hiding from me is right at impossible, even if you are invisible and doing your best to suppress your chakra." Then her shadow clone finished the seal and Naruko appeared behind a man with a sword. She opened her eyes and casually laid a kunai to his throat, "So why don't you just be nice and join us for a cup of tea?" The man stared as the other genin all stared at him, "Well this is embarrassing…"

==Meanwhile==

Kushina grinned in her chair as she watched through the Crystal Ball Jutsu, "That's my girl."

==The Next Morning==

 _Menma_

I sat on a rock resting and keeping my senses sharp as we rested while the sun poked over the top of the mountains. After that Nara had attacked us, Sasuke, Kiba, Shino and I had kept watch while Sakura and Sai quickly packed up our little campsite. They had tossed us our packs and we had taken off through the woods, not wanting to give our shady assailant another easy opportunity. Now that we knew, or at least suspected our opponent of being a Nara, we knew not to let them get the drop on us, especially at night since that's when the Nara are strongest. Lord Third married into the clan and he's virtually invincible at night, so the last thing we needed was to fight someone who had actually been born into the clan at night. The way they had smacked us around the night before was testament in plenty to that.

I looked down, "You guys rest, I'll take first watch." They all quickly settled in to sleep lightly, all except for Sasuke who propped against my rock, "We should take watch in pairs. If that Nara comes back it'll take both us to hold him off." I nodded, "We should try to come up with a plan. We'll run out of flash bombs a long time before he runs out of shadows."

==Meanwhile==

 _Naruko_

Hayate is such a sweety. After I beat his Transparent Escape Jutsu he altered the test for us so that I wouldn't have to be up all night on the way there. He would waylay us once a day each day, and we would have to fight him in pairs. The only drawback was that he would get to choose which of us he fought. If he had been observing us, and if he continued to observe us, he would choose from Master Faust's team, and we would definitely be stuck toting wounded. He had also made no concessions about not choosing the same people day after day, and I knew that as a Jonin, even if I could beat him at the invisibility game, he could still demolish my team if he wanted to, and there was no way I'd be able to stop him.

Our instructors' words about not making it on time being as bad as not making it at all echoed in my mind and I knew that if we had to carry our wounded we'd probably never make it in time. I scratched my head rapidly in frustration on the verge of pulling my hair out as we walked, desperately trying to come up with a plan, "GAH! WHERE'S MENMA WHEN I NEED HIM?!"

==Elsewhere==

 _Chouji_

There's a reason I trust Shikamaru more than anybody. He's the world's laziest genius, and that means that anything he deems to be a drag, he _will_ find a way out of putting up with. So I was now calmly striding down the pass in giant form carrying the team in my hand covering fifteen meters a step. Well, half the team. Shikamaru and Ino were riding on my shoulders. I chuckled as we advanced through the pass rapidly, "Great idea Shikamaru, now all I have to do is walk and you guys can cover me while I rest. We'll get there in no time!" Shikamaru patted my shoulder, "That's the idea big guy." "I bet we're the first ones there!" Ino exclaimed delightedly.

None of them saw Kakashi leaned against a tree on the ground watching them pass and grinning, "I'll take that bet."

==That Afternoon, the Land of Grass==

Mimasu's ears twitched as he heard a faint rustle of grass. His sharp yellow eyes darted about and then he sprang backwards to the wall of the Matoi-estate. He toppled off it backwards as a man with burning red eyes suddenly appeared out of nowhere and drop-kicked him before he could even reach for his blade. He gasped as he was slammed into the ground beneath his assailant and then he roared in pain as Fugaku Uchiha blasted flames into his eyes. The assault on Matoi manor had begun.

==The Ruins of Hidden Waterfall==

Fuu looked over her shoulder at the village that had been her entire hell of a world for as long as she could remember. She had the contents of Hidden Waterfalls entire library of jutsu sealed into a scroll in her pack, including their scroll of forbidden jutsu. She could tell there was nobody left alive, her seal told her that. She sighed and looked at the ground, the border of the village that had for so long been impenetrable to her. She took a deep breath and tentatively edged a toe across. If the seal was still active even that much would shock her badly.

Nothing happened and Fuu stepped her whole foot across. Her heart was about to burst with excitement as she finally stepped outside of the village for the first time in her life. She stopped once she was across and shrieked with delight. Then she did a happy dance. Then she flipped the ruins behind her the bird, pulled a cookie from the jar that now hung at her hip and made a hand sign, "Katsu!"

The ruins of Hidden Waterfall exploded as the village's entire supply of blasting tags went off. Fuu took a bite of cookie and grinned smugly to herself as she fist pumped, _So…COOL!_ She was still smiling broadly as she sauntered off, _I've got to find somebody to watch me next time I do that! Look out world, here comes Fuu!_ She laughed with delight, the world was waiting.


	17. INTERMISSION NOT HIATUS

**AN:** _First of all, I'd like to apologize for the wait. I realize you are probably quite impatient, but I must ask you to bear with me a bit longer as this story has been on the back burner for a while and I've run out of backlogged chapters. Rest assured, the story isn't done. Not by a long shot. In fact I expect it to be one of my longest running stories. The plan is in place, I merely need to get around to executing it. In the meantime, to apologize for how long the wait has been, please accept this one shot which was the birth of what will become one of this story's most frightening villains._

 _If you have any questions about the story thus far, leave a review and I'll post a compilation of answers with the next chapter. I love reviews and they are the best way possible to get that new chapter here sooner as they provide motivation for me to write it sooner rather than later._

 ** _The New Kazekage_**

 _Special Thanks to EmpressofMelnibone for coming up with the basis for this AU!_

 _In this world it has been illegal for over a century in Nihon for any but samurai to carry weapons. Just over a decade ago, the country was shattered into a brutal civil war which has come to be known as the Onin War. Many predict that despite the peace that has settled in its wake, it will be the first of many. The Land of Fire dominated its foes in the Onin war largely thanks to its shinobi forces recruited from the Village Hidden in the Leaves. Hidden Leaf had never disarmed and continued to train in secret defiance of the law for the day when their services would be called upon once again. When the call came, their forces, most notoriously the Uchiha who could summon and compel the spirits of the land to battle in addition to their own formidable abilities, bathed in the blood of those they were sent against. Now those who were bested by them are beginning to regroup and plot their vengeance. The Warring States Period has begun._

=Six Months After The End Of The Onin War, Village Hidden In The Sand=

Rasa bit his lip and gritted his teeth, snarling internally and chafing at every breath that escaped the blindfolded man beside him. He had a cheerful smile on his face as he rose though, "People of the Village Hidden in the Sand, please rise and join me in welcoming your new Kazekage, Mimasu Subete!" Many of Sand's people in attendance did not rise, but some did, and all raised their cups and drank heavily.

Rasa sat down, a flicker of dismay flitting across his face, even if he wasn't happy to be being kicked out of office, he had at least hoped the people of Sand would accept his replacement. A bead of sweat trickled down the back of his neck as the possibility of civil war within the village occurred to him, then he was distracted by Mimasu standing. Mimasu looked young, but he moved like an old man Rasa thought. Mimasu's young red haired attendant went to assist him, but Mimasu stilled her with a faint hand gesture as he rose.

Mimasu bowed his head as every eye in the room fell upon him, "Thank you Rasa for your warm welcome." Then he raised his head and spoke in a louder stronger voice, "People of The Village Hidden in the Sand, I know you are not fond of me. I am not one of your people and I do not expect you to just up and accept me as though I were. I know that not a single one of you would prefer me to Rasa for your Kazekage." He exhaled and then continued with a smile, "This is why I am naming Rasa my second in command while I am here. If I happen to die, Rasa will resume control of the Village Hidden in the Sand."

There were many stares and it was so quiet that the drop of a hat would've been as loud as a thunderclap. Mimasu waited and then snorted, "Just because you don't like the messenger doesn't mean you can't still cheer for good news." The roar of applause immediately following was deafening as Rasa stared at his plate in shock, not daring to look at the man who had just so boldly laid such a blatant trap. If anyone tried to kill him and they did not succeed, they would die. If Rasa wanted to stop them, he would have to turn down the position Mimasu had just appointed him to and lose whatever authority he still had!

After the applause died down Mimasu continued with a smile, "Now I know many of you are reaching for knives, garrotes and bottles of poison as you contemplate having your beloved Kazekage back in the position you placed him in, but before you go planning anything overly complicated, perhaps you would like to just try to kill me now? I am blind, infirm and unarmed," he spread his hands, "The Lord of Wind has agreed already that if I am killed the first night here then I am clearly not the right person for this job, so come now. Make your feelings known!"

A chill ran down the back of Rasa's spine, he _couldn't_ be this stupid! This was the man who had been the Lord of Wind's personal tactician! Surely he couldn't be trying to incite a riot bent on lynching him! A knife flew from the crowd and Mimasu caught it between clasped hands mere inches from his face. He casually flipped it through the air, catching it by the tip effortlessly before flipping it again, settling into an easy rhythm of deadly precision and control, "Anyone else?" he asked icily as everyone in the crowd stared at the unparalleled speed and precision that they had only ever seen before in one place...

Someone in the audience whispered in horror, "Uchiha..." and immediately found the knife between their hands, stuck quivering with its point buried an inch deep in the wood. Everyone leapt away from the knife like it was about to explode and Mimasu's voice carried a deadly chill, "Uchiha? Let me show you what _Uchiha_ will do to all of us if we cannot regain this Village's former strength..." He reached towards his blindfold and as it came off, the entire assembly gasped in horror. As Mimasu told them of how he lost his eyes all Rasa could think was, _"Thank the gods I left the children at home..."_

When Mimasu was done, the entire room was enthralled to his story and unable to tear their eyes from the horrible wreckage of his no matter how desperately they wanted to. Mimasu looked around with his sightless sockets and each and every person in the room felt as though those empty holes of burned flesh were staring into their very souls, "I have seen the horrors you will all face if you wish to continue calling yourselves shinobi," he said quietly, "and I would not force any of you to confront those horrors. This is why the Lord of Wind has sent me, he wants someone who has seen war to lead his warriors, so that you, the mighty shinobi of Sand, will not go into battle blind when we confront the horrors the Leaf brought upon us in the Onin War."

His scorched flesh cracked open and began to ooze blood as his face twisted into a savage grin, "We will fight my friends, and for our children and our homes, we will _crush them_. Who's with me?" Rasa bellowed along with all the others as the entire assembly erupted in a unanimous battle cry but inside he and every other Sand shinobi quaked a little, " _New guy's good..."_

=Meanwhile=

"You can't be serious Temari!" Kankuro protested desperately, "He's a samurai! Sent straight from the Lord of Wind! What do you think killing him will do?! The Lord of Wind will destroy us if his representative is killed!" Temari checked her hair in the mirror one more time and replied calmly, if a little irritably, "I'm not going to kill him Kankuro. I'm just going to persuade him to go the hell away, give Dad his job back, and never cross my path again if he wants to live." She lifted her fan and snapped it shut, the subtle clink of the razor sharp ends of the fans ribs that could slice as well as any knife giving away its true purpose as a weapon to those listening closely enough to hear it.

Kankuro pointed at it, "Well what're you taking that for?!" he demanded. He suddenly found it under his chin and Temari's glare was as cold and merciless as the steel points of her fan, "If he won't listen to sweet," A vicious glint entered her eye, "I'll just have to get sharp with him." Kankuro recoiled in horror, "Temari please!" A small voice suddenly spoke from the door, "Temawi?" there was a tiny heart wrenching cough, "Kankur?" Temari's fan disappeared up her sleeve in an instant and she smiled warmly as she walked over to her baby brother and swept him up in a warm hug, "What is it Gaara?"

"I had a bad dweam," Gaara said quietly, "I'm scared." Temari hugged him close, "Don't worry Gaara, it was just a dream. You want me to sing to you?" Gaara nodded and Temari held him a little tighter, "Okay, come on."

Half an hour later Temari stood in the doorway looking at her beloved brothers tiny form wrapped all in sheets, "Don't you see Kankuro?" she said quietly, "If I don't get Dad his job back we won't," she choked back a sob, "Gaara..." Kankuro laid a bear like hand on her shoulder, "Yeah. I know." He turned her around and bent down slightly to look her in the eye, "You come back safe alright? Don't do anything reckless. And dry up," he added with the wry grin she knew and loved, "Your make-up's gonna run." Temari wiped her eyes and smiled back at him, "Alright." Kankuro nodded, "Good, now get going. I'll watch him."

=Later That Night=

Mimasu smiled as he strode confidently down the hall and Karin smiled at him, "That was brilliant Lord Mimasu! Blind and infirm, I can't believe they actually bought that! Even without your eyes you still see better than anyone!" Mimasu chuckled, "Perhaps not better than _any_ one Karin, your own eyes are sharp as well." Karin blushed furiously and then the blush faded as her eyes widened and she whispered, "Do you...?" "Sense her? Yes I see her. Quite an impressive chakra she has, very powerful wind user," Mimasu breathed. "That's Rasa's daughter," Karin hissed, "What does she want?"

"Probably her father's job back if I had to guess, she wasn't at the feast, she must not know his position hasn't truly changed." "Should we set her straight?" Karin asked. Mimasu paused as they reached Karin's room, which was right next to his, "No, I will speak with her, and if she is amiable she will be fine." "It's not her I worry about," Karin muttered. Mimasu turned and caught her chin with a grin, "Hey, what's that supposed to mean?"

Karin scrunched up her face and glared at him, "You know perfectly well what! You're my patient, I have to take care of you, not send you off to your death!" Mimasu chuckled and hugged her, "Have some faith Karin, listen through the walls if it will calm your nerves, but please, let me handle this one. You had misgivings about my speech, but look how well that turned out. Trust me Karin, I won't let myself die. I still have too much to do." Karin blushed, "Alright," she grumbled, "but you had better live through this or I swear I'll drag you out of the afterlife just so I can send you back myself." Mimasu chuckled even harder, "I know Karin, I know." Karin nodded into his shoulder and then pulled away before stepping into her room and closing the door gently behind her.

Mimasu gently opened his own door, putting on his blind and infirm act again, no need to let her know he was on to her. He felt his way over towards the bed and then from there he reached out and tried to grope around for the trunk he had brought his things in. He found it after a moment and opened it. Temari watched silently from the bed, she had been still as stone since he had come in. She hadn't realized he was blind, and now she had a slight twinge of doubt about her earlier rage at him, surely he wouldn't strip her father of his position entirely, he'd need someone to assist him right? She made a note of that to bring up when he realized she was there.

Mimasu found what he was looking for and pulled out a robe. Temari blushed, was he about to... then as Mimasu undid his belt and shed his top she couldn't stop a little gasp from escaping her. The massive intricate tattoo spread across his back was unmistakably the mark of a shinobi. Suddenly Mimasu whirled to face her, katana in hand, "Who's there?" Temari froze and then thought quickly, "Just a little present from the Village sir," she said innocently as she readied her fan to drop to a ready position and fed her chakra into her own tattoo in case he didn't believe her. Mimasu sheathed his blade, "Well you should've knocked," then he smiled as he turned and placed the blade back in the trunk, "but it is rude to look a gift in the mouth, and I'm sure you would've killed me when I came through the door if that's what you were here for, so I'll let it slide this time."

"You have quite a sweet voice," he continued, "I wish I could see the face that goes with it." He pulled on his night robe and walked over to the bed before climbing into it and lying down next to her. "You'll have to forgive me if I lie down, it's easier for me to do so." He smiled over at her, "So who are you Miss Present?" Temari dragged her finger tips down his bare chest gently, "I'm Temari." Mimasu's brows furrowed, "Isn't that the name of..." "Rasa's daughter?" Temari supplied as her nails started to scratch across Mimasu's skin on their way downward.

Mimasu nodded, "Ah, I knew Rasa bore me no hard feelings after the banquet this evening, but I never dreamed he'd eep..." The "eep..." was in response to Temari suddenly having him quite literally by the balls and something very sharp against his throat. Temari could tell Mimasu blinked in confusion behind his blindfold, "What are you doing?" "Giving you a chance to give my father his job back, and get out of our village," Temari told him sweetly.

Mimasu smiled, "Why Temari, whatever makes you think Rasa needs his old jo-ahhh!" Temari dug her nails in and pressed the blade a little harder against his throat, "My baby brother is dying you scum, if we can't afford a healer he'll die. I'm not letting that happen!" Mimasu tilted his head to the side, "Ah, I see. That is why Rasa was so upset." "Yes," Temari said softly. "Well then," Mimasu folded his hands across his stomach, "My assistant Karin is one of the finest healers in the Land of Wind. I shall have to get her to take a look at little Gaara."

Temari raised the blade slightly away from his throat and Mimasu continued, "And you need not fret. I am sure you had your reasons to not attend the feast this evening, but if you had then you would know Rasa's position to be largely unchanged. I named him my second in command this evening." Temari's blade shot back up into her sleeve and she let go of him as she sat back, slightly embarrassed, "Oh." Mimasu smiled gently at her, "Your dedication to your family is quite admirable, and your reasons for attacking me were just, so I will not hold this against you." Temari blinked and then realized what she had just done, the red haze that had been clouding her sight for a week finally clearing away.

She opened her mouth to apologize as panic started to set in and Mimasu sat up, gently laying a finger to her lips, somehow looking right at her even though he was blind, "Shhh. I have already forgiven you." His hand slid across her cheek, "You are very beautiful Lady Temari." Temari blushed, she had just threatened to kill him and now he was, _complimenting her?_ Then his hand slid down to her shoulder and his fingertips rested atop the edge of her tattoo, sending little ripples through her chakra as he touched it through the cloth, "Now why don't you tell me about yours, and I'll tell you about mine."

Temari blinked as she realized he had just commented her looks, "Wait, you just called me beautiful, can you, _see me?_ " Mimasu shrugged off his robe and gestured to his tattoo, "I guess I'll go first." He turned slightly away from her so that she could get a good look, "After I lost my eyes, Karin found me. She took me to the ruins of a shinobi village behind a waterfall to recover. While we were there, we explored and found many shinobi tattoos in the ruins. This one was in a vault which Karin was able to break open. Do you see the face?" Temari gently touched the face inscribed on his back, it was in one of four circles, the only one that was full, "What is it?" Mimasu smiled, "That is the face of the man who took my eyes from me."

Temari's hand flinched away from it, "What?" Mimasu chuckled slightly, "Well you see this is something of a gruesome power I have. It is called the Earth Grudge Fear, it was a forbidden technique, a very powerful one. We suspect the one that destroyed the waterfall village was using this technique. You see by ripping my enemy's hearts out, I can prolong my own life indefinitely, and even survive mortal wounds by sacrificing one." Temari strongly considered backing away in horror, "What?"

Mimasu nodded, "Yes, quite a nasty power, after learning what it did I could see why it was forbidden. I needed it to take my revenge though, and after Karin helped me gain this power, I hunted down the Uchiha that took my eyes and slaughtered my friends. When I finally caught up to him..." the eyes of the dead man's face suddenly snapped open, revealing two blood chilling crimson Sharingans. After Temari got all the screaming out, Mimasu closed the eyes on his back and turned to look at her, "I took his eyes as payment for mine, along with his heart to avenge the comrades he killed."

"The villagers already know, I told them at the feast. They seemed quite delighted to have such a formidable leader," he continued as he undid his blindfold, revealing the Sharingans that had just been in his back peeking out of the ruined flesh around his eyes, "So fret not. I'm on your side, and there are very few eyes sharper than mine to keep watch." Temari was backed against the wall trembling. Mimasu frowned stood up and walked over to her. He didn't say anything as she tried to find a way around him to escape the monster in front of her. He just casually scooped her up and carried her over to the bed.

She scrabbled away from him as he sat down, "Calm down Temari, I'm not going to hurt you." Temari finally found her voice, "You're a monster..." she said quietly. Mimasu chuckled, "No, if I were a monster I'd tie you down, have my wicked way with you, steal your heart and powers, and then go back on my word to help Gaara. I am not a monster though, and I shall not do any of those things."

Temari cringed as he laid down, "I'd still like to hear more about you if you don't mind sharing. Karin's already gone to help Gaara, and I know she will be able to help him. So please, don't be alarmed. Stay, and tell me about yourself. I wish to know the strengths of this village, and you are one of its strongest assets. I need to know what you can do." The tension eased ever so slightly from Temari's muscles as he stroked her ego, and then she nodded, "Okay, let's talk."

==The Next Morning==

Temari's eyes snapped open and she looked down. She knew immediately what must have happened, but her memory was hazy, who... "You're awake," Mimasu smiled into her hair. Temari shrieked as she sprang from the bed and covered herself. Temari snatched her clothes from the bed as Mimasu smiled at her, "That was a fun wicked way to have." Temari flinched and then stared as Mimasu caught her hand, "So, marry me?" "NO!" Temari shrieked as she leapt away from him, covering herself as quickly as she could. Mimasu howled with laughter, "I'm just teasing you Temari, nothing happened. Check for yourself if you don't believe me!"

Temari's jaw dropped, then she ordered him to turn around and cover his back before checking. She blinked and then flushed crimson with embarrassment as she realized he had in fact just been teasing her. "You, you," she couldn't even think of a name strong enough to call him, so instead she settled for slapping his back. He yelped like he had been scalded and sprang away as she sat down on the bed in a huff, "asshole." Mimasu grinned over his shoulder at her, "Karin came in after you passed out. Gaara's just fine, she patched him up good as new."

Temari's head snapped up as she remembered why she had come to see Mimasu and a smile broke out across her face. She shot a glare over her shoulder as she dressed, "You ever tell anyone about this and I will kill you." Mimasu raised his hands innocently, "I won't tell a soul Temari."


End file.
